This is what Russia and Europe is hoping will get them some boots on the surface of the moon to compete with NASA's Orion Program. It is a first look at a new spacecraft designed by Russian manufacturer RKK Energia and revealed at the Farnborough Air Show last week. I've got to agree with the boys over at Gizmodo, it does look like something out of the Ikea Kitchen Collection. The joint project is designed around the premise of getting four cosmonauts or 'euronauts' to the moon and back. Now the interesting thing about this flying crockpot is that it will be the first manned spacecraft to return to the Earth's surface by retro-rocket soft landing (which, I assume, is what is shown in the picture below). No word on how they expect to get that thing to the surface of the moon or back up without a lunar lander though. The ESA and their Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, are hoping to get their design aloft by 2018, or sooner if rocket modifications permit.
(BBC via Gizmodo)
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
First look at new Russian/European spacecraft
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4 comments:
Why is the sky yellow-blue and are there clouds in the pic?
It's Kazakhstan.
If it can retro-rocket soft landing on earth, it can retro-rocket soft landing on the moon.
If it is an earth lander, then it is a lunar lander as well.
"If it can retro-rocket soft landing on earth, it can retro-rocket soft landing on the moon." Only if it can deep-throttle the engines, but you're probably right.
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