Russia Will Launch Its First Moon Mission Since The 1970s
Moon Mission Wikimedia Commons The unmanned probe will take off in 2015 from Russia's brand new launch site. Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, will launch an unmanned mission to the moon in 2015, according to agency head Vladimir Popovkin. The rocket carrying the robotic probe, called Luna-Glob, will be the first set off from Russia's new Far East launchpad, the Vostochny cosmodrome. Last year, President Vladimir Putin pledged to pour $1 billion into the new launch site, located near China. The new launch site will wean Russia off its dependence on Kazakhstan's Baikonur launch facility. Luna-Glob, the first of four planned Russian moon missions, will carry scientific equipment to take soil samples and look for water, according to AP reports. State-run news agency Ria Novosti has said that it will carry dust monitors and plasma sensors to sense high-energy cosmic rays as well. It will be the first Russian...