[Bryan See]

Speaking of Russian space news, according to the source, the Russian manned launches to the moon are planned to be carried out in pairs from the Vostochny cosmodrome and the Plesetsk cosmodrome with small intervals between the blast-offs. From TASS:



The organisation of Russia’s manned mission to the Moon will require from four to six launches of the Angara-A5V heavy-lift carrier rocket from the Plesetsk and Vostochny spaceports, a source in the rocket and space industry told TASS on Monday.

According to the source, a manned flight to the moon is possible under a scheme envisaging two coupled launches. First, a lunar take-off and landing complex is placed on a low Earth orbit, and then the upper stage with effective cryogenic propellants is orbited. The third launch orbits a manned spacecraft, and the fourth - another upper stage. After docking of the lunar take-off and landing complex with the manned spacecraft on the lunar orbit, the crew descends to the Moon surface inside the lunar take-off and landing complex, carries out the research program and returns to orbit. After that the spaceship returns to Earth.

Also, another coupled Angara-A5V launch will be needed before the manned flight to deliver and deploy the first expeditionary unit of the lunar base on the Moon.

"Thus, Russia’s first full-fledged expedition to the Moon would require six launches of the Angara-A5V rocket," the source said.

Previously, head of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation (RKK Energia) Vladimir Solntsev said that the flight to the Moon would require four Angara launches.

According to the source, the launches are planned to be carried out in pairs from the Vostochny cosmodrome (the Amur region in Russia’s Far East) and the Plesetsk cosmodrome (Archangelsk region in the northwest) with small intervals between the blast-offs. Under the proposed scheme, after the orbit placement, the complex with a total weight up to 70 tonnes will be docked with the manned spacecraft, after which it will fly to the Moon. A payload of 18-20 tonnes will be delivered to the lunar orbit by the end of the mission.

According to a preliminary plan, Russia’s first manned flight to the Moon is possible in 2029. One year ahead of that it is planned to conduct a flight around the Moon, the testing and qualification of space systems for the future manned landing. However, this project may become a reality only if the work to create a new-generation manned transport spacecraft, the Angara-A5 rocket, lunar boosters and other needed rocket and space technology and infrastructure is included in the draft Federal Space Program for 2016-2025.

In September, Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos announced that it will send a lander, Luna 25, to the Moon's south pole in 2024. After touchdown, the lander will investigate the lunar surface for future lunar bases. The Luna 25 mission was initially proposed in 1997 and has since suffered a number of delays, but it seems that with Europe's aid the mission could finally get the jump-start it needs. Construction of the spacecraft has already begun.

Russian Space Research Institute (IKI) has recently revealed details about the upcoming Luna 25 (also known as Luna-Glob lander) mission that is being developed by the institute. The Luna 25 mission will include instruments that will carry out scientific research on the lunar surface and deliver detailed data about the Moon’s composition. The IKI-made instruments - such as LIS-TV-RPM (providing IR spectrometry of minerals, and TV imaging) and PmL (responsible for studying the lunar dust and micrometeorites) - will be supported by tools developed in collaboration with universities in Sweden and Switzerland. The probe will also feature the ADRON-LR instrument that will make active neutron and gamma-ray analysis of regolith. Another significant payload, ARIES-L, will measure the Moon’s exosphere plasma. The mission is included in the Federal Space program of Russia for 2016-2025. The launch of the Luna 25 spacecraft is currently planned for 2024. The continuation of the Luna program could be the beginning of Russian plans to establish a lunar base sometime in the 2030s. The proposed base would include a solar power station, telecommunication station, technological station, scientific station, long-range research rover, landing and launch area, and an orbiting satellite.

Speaking of IKI, the problem is the institute, as well as the Russian Academy of Sciences, has successfully resisted the government reforms which include its possible merging, thanks to physicist Vladimir E. Fortov and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who both saved the Academy and its institutes in general by permanently suspending the reforms through its introduction and annual extension of the property and personnel moratorium. IKI's director, Lev Zeleny, and others such as Alexander Zakharov, are, as all academicians and corresponding members, eternal and physically immortal. They have their own continued connivance, like corruption, negligence, fiefdoms, embezzling funds allocated to space missions for anything, and abuse of office, and thus they are not honest at best. So, this is why young scientist Vera Mysina and her "For An Honest Country" movement is fighting against corruption and nepotism.

EDIT: Roscosmos is set to become a state corporation to solve systematic problems within its industry, however, with fund misuses at Roscosmos revealed by Russia's auditing chamber, I do not know whether this will solve them at all.

[Goober5000]

I'd love to see this happen, but this is only a hypothetical mission.  Russian news sites have a habit of making a big deal out of announcements of "preliminary plans", but those plans seldom actually go anywhere.  Even projects which are actually funded and executed are usually delayed.  The ISS module Nauka was originally supposed to launch in 2007 but is currently projected to be launched sometime in 2017.  (Historically, the launch date has pretty dependably been two years in the future.)

That russianspaceweb.com site that I linked above is a much more comprehensive and reliable site for learning about the status and plans of the Russian space program.

[Dragon]

That said, the mission plan looks sane. They're not trying to build a superrocket like the SLS, instead basing themselves on the more manageable (and already flying) Angara. At the same time, they'd be able to do plenty of good science with a dedicated habitat module. If they're going to go to the Moon, it'd be something like this. It's amazing that they got this far at all, considering that their budget is a fraction of NASA's and that most of it is going into oligarchs' pockets... Won't happen by 2039, probably, but I don't really see NASA on the Moon by that time, either.

[666maslo666]

Indeed, the mission plan is good. Even with all the corruption, delays and lack of funds in Russian space program, I bet we will see Russians on the Moon before we see Americans on Mars.

[Bryan See]

Indeed, the mission plan is good. Even with all the corruption, delays and lack of funds in Russian space program, I bet we will see Russians on the Moon before we see Americans on Mars.

And not to mention, sanctions by countries imposed on Russia due to its role in the 2014 Ukraine conflict.

[Col.Hornet]

I'd love to see this happen, but this is only a hypothetical mission.  Russian news sites have a habit of making a big deal out of announcements of "preliminary plans", but those plans seldom actually go anywhere.  Even projects which are actually funded and executed are usually delayed.  The ISS module Nauka was originally supposed to launch in 2007 but is currently projected to be launched sometime in 2017.  (Historically, the launch date has pretty dependably been two years in the future.)

That russianspaceweb.com site that I linked above is a much more comprehensive and reliable site for learning about the status and plans of the Russian space program.

Yup, they often announce magnificent plans which in reality turn out to be problematic or impossible to realize. More or less two years ago they announced that they will build a new carrier for their fleet <with nuclear propulsion, huge air wing, 100 planes. etc. >. or the new class of strategic nuclear attack subs. Since then I haven't heard any news about the carrier and new subs deployment turned out to be severely delayed. But still the best example is the PAK-FA fighter. It will take years before they even could move it to the serial production and it's uncertain to compete with F-22. One thing I learned about Russian military/space programs. If they have built something really good and effective they will not talk about it much (like S-300 and S-400 SAM systems). Any other news about magnificent and "miraculous" projects shall be received with distance and caution.

[BirdofPrey]

As mentioned before in this thread, this isn't all to likely to come to pass in any reasonable timeframe.  Still, I do like the idea of assembly in orbit, though I wonder what the launch tempo is supposed to be, cryogenic tanks are a bit of a pain to keep full for extended periods (hydrogen in particular is actually capable of seeping through solid titanium).  For the most part, the Russians always seemed to to me to be a bit more practical when it comes to their space program where NASA likes building big rockets and spaceships for grandiose missions.

It's still a shame the Energia/Buran program died, the Buran was a better space shuttle than the space shuttle, and the Energia is what SLS wants to be.

[Bryan See]

As mentioned before in this thread, this isn't all to likely to come to pass in any reasonable timeframe.  Still, I do like the idea of assembly in orbit, though I wonder what the launch tempo is supposed to be, cryogenic tanks are a bit of a pain to keep full for extended periods (hydrogen in particular is actually capable of seeping through solid titanium).  For the most part, the Russians always seemed to to me to be a bit more practical when it comes to their space program where NASA likes building big rockets and spaceships for grandiose missions.

It's still a shame the Energia/Buran program died, the Buran was a better space shuttle than the space shuttle, and the Energia is what SLS wants to be.

I think it's due to budget cuts. In recent years since the fall of the Soviet Union, embezzlement of space mission funds is rampant. In May 2015, Russia's Audit Chamber discovered $1.8 billion of financial violations in the Roscosmos space agency, which was reorganized into a state corporation. According to Chamber head Tatyana Golikova, this included accounting violations, misuse of budget funds and inefficient spending on construction. Clearly, this showed a sharp rise in violations at Roscosmos since last year.

It is corruption in the space industry that resulted in the recent high accident rate of Russian spacecraft. Not just in the space industry, but also... the Russian Academy of Sciences and its institutes (the Space Research Institute included) itself. The REN TV documentary film about the Academy, titled "Diagnostics of RAS", has shown the corrupt nature of the eternally ageless Academy as a nefarious organization. We do take these facts portrayed in this film is true.