Roscosmos Planetary Exploration Missions

Russia ready to send an exploratory mission to the moons of Jupiter - Europe - in the 2020-2021 year
02.09.2009

Russia may send an exploratory mission to the moons of Jupiter - Europe - in the 2020-2021 year, ITAR-TASS. This was reported at the Sixth International Aerospace Congress deputy director of the Institute for Space Research / IKI / Russia Academy of Sciences Oleg Korablev. On Thursday, he spoke on "Planting apparatus on a satellite of Jupiter - Europe.

Korablev reminded that Europe and three more satellites of Jupiter were discovered by Galileo Galilei. Modern views on Europe were formed once flew through the Jovian several U.S. space vehicles. In particular, it was found that Europe is water ice. Based on these data there were different models of the thickness of the ice cover. According Korableva, "all these models, the total" pearl "- under the ice is a liquid water ocean." According Korableva, "Europe sample of the ice world, where life can be."

The representative of SRI said that the research work on the mission to Europe led Lavochkin and ICI. "It is expected that the mission will orbiter and lander - clarified Korablev. - The orbital module will remain in orbit for the European data relay from the lander. In making these modules will be used backlogs of previous missions -" Phobos-Grunt "and" Moon resources. "assumed that the mass of the lander will be 550 kg." Korablev noted that developers are forced to take into account the mission greater restrictions on the radiation, because the powerful radiation belts of Jupiter may adversely affect the on-board equipment.

"Research work on the mission to Europe is scheduled for completion in 2010 - said Korablev. - Estimated launch date - the years of 2020-2021. Under this mission will be used rocket" Proton ". According Korableva, flights to the system of Jupiter and access to Europe would take seven years. lander on the surface of Europe is working 60-90 days.

"The priority mission - to search for traces of extraterrestrial life and study of the structure of Europe - said Korablev. - Flight of Russia's mission will be carried out in parallel with similar missions of the European Space Agency and the U.S. agency NASA. According Korableva, in case of success of these missions following the direction of research distant planets solar system, most likely, will be Saturn.

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With a launch date of 2020 or so that might mean that the nuclear powered rocket Russia is to develop as a space tug could be used. This could either greatly increase the payload size, or increase it a smaller amount but shorten the travel time.

Europa is a fascinating target, as are pretty much any moons in that region of the solar system.

The idea there might be a liquid ocean below the ice is intriguing.

Else than the scientific reason, are there any other aims for sending an exploratory mission to Europe?

milky_candy_sugar wrote:Else than the scientific reason, are there any other aims for sending an exploratory mission to Europe?

See if there is water on it... water means possible life. First to study it gets prestige.

I think I have seen a European proposal that suggests and orbiting relay station and a probe that is dropped with a nuclear reactor on board. The probe will heat up its base and melt its way through the ice and leave a small surface antenna attached to it by a cable so as it descends it remains in contact with the relay station above via the cable as the ice melts again above it. When it reaches any ocean below the ice surface it can swim around and send information up through its cable to the antenna on the surface up to the relay station in orbit and back to Earth.

Potential problems include extreme tidal gravity forces from nearby Jupiter and of course radiation from Jupiter, as well as the extreme cold.

Will be fascinating.

"With a launch date of 2020 or so that might mean that the nuclear powered rocket Russia is to develop as a space tug could be used. This could either greatly increase the payload size, or increase it a smaller amount but shorten the travel time."

Is Russia trying to build orion propulsion type space ship?

"Else than the scientific reason, are there any other aims for sending an exploratory mission to Europe?"
Ships like this could offer a major strategic advantage comercial or military.

Also news like this one could create a new space race between countries or corporations.Things have gotten boring ever since NASA became a climate monitoring agency

Not up to date with what an Orion is, but here is the Russia Today article about what I was talking about:
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-01-28/nuclear-rocket-engine-space.html?fullstory

Regarding a new space race, I would hope we have all learned from the last race and would try cooperation instead of competition.
Competition led to enormous costs on both sides and to deaths from risks that did not really need to be taken.
In many ways cooperation is much harder, but we have a better future ahead of us if we try cooperation rather than cold war competition and mistrust.

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- In an attempt to re-create the experience of a manned mission to Mars, an international team of researchers will lock themselves up in a windowless capsule for about a year and a half -- time required for a round trip to the Red Planet. Starting Thursday, an all-male "crew" of six -- three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian-Colombian and a Chinese -- will spend 520 days in the cramped and claustrophobic conditions of a special facility in Moscow and will follow a strict regimen of exercise and diet.


Organizers at the European Space Agency and Russia's Institute of Biomedical Problems hope the project will shed light on the physical and psychological effects of the long isolation that future Mars astronauts will experience.


"This study is not useful only for Mars, but also for life on Earth," 27-year-old Diego Urbina, the Italian-Colombian participant, said in a news release.


The researchers will communicate with mission control via the internet, with occasional disruptions and a 20-minute delay to imitate the effects of space travel.


They will perform tasks similar to astronauts at the international space station, such as maintenance and scientific experiments, but for a longer period of time. They will follow a seven-day week with two days off, except when special and emergency situations are simulated.


The latest isolation test is the last and longest part of the Mars500 experiment that began in 2007. The first phase was a 14-day simulation that mainly tested the facilities and operational procedures. The second phase followed in 2009, when four Russian and two European crew members were shut into the facility for 105 days.


Missions to the Red Planet have thus far been unmanned. In January, NASA told CNN Radio that the agency was close to a deal to merge its Mars program with the European Space Agency's, a big step toward manned missions.

http://www.planetpit.com/profiles/blogs/russia-to-launch-520day-mock

When you are a million kms from Earth you have to use what you have efficiently.
There will be new technology needed that will benefit us created for this sort of exploration.

One of the most interesting, I think, technologies will be a nuclear tug the Russians are designing to reduce the risks of long distance space flight, by either allowing more to be taken or to reduce flight times dramatically.

Of course any manned flight to Mars will no doubt be prepared for with robotic missions sent first to perhaps find water and perhaps start producing air and fuel supplies for the trip back, maybe even start growing food for the first humans to arrive.

Here is the news article from Russia Today:

Russian nuclear rocket engine may get mankind to other planets

28 January, 2010, 10:37

Humans on Mars and beyond and protecting the Earth from asteroids… A new nuclear propulsion system to be used in spacecrafts is set to be developed in Russia.

The technology will allow bigger vehicles to be sent into space, making manned missions to Mars possible. It will also mean new and more efficient type of satellites to monitor weather and gather intelligence.

Read more

“It’s a kind of inter-orbital tow spacecraft for launching new heavy satellites and spacecraft to far-destined orbits, as well as to the Moon and other planets in the Solar system. At present we have rockets with chemical fuel that can launch a vehicle weighing 5-6 tonnes. While these new vehicles will weigh two, or even four times more,” explained Igor Afanasyev from Cosmonautics News Magazine.

The Kremlin has set aside some 17 billion rubles to help develop a nuclear-powered rocket engine. 500 million rubles of that money are set aside for 2010.

Russia's space company Energia, which helps to develop the engine, estimates the new spacecraft could be tested by 2015.

Currently rockets use solid or liquid fuel boosters, which are very energy-inefficient. With the new system, once the payload gets into space using conventional fuel, they can then stop using that booster and switch over to the new nuclear-powered drive that has the potential to bring payloads to much greater distances.

That is something that can help get payloads to the ISS, and this is even more important, as the US space shuttle program is going to end in 2010 and not resumed until 2015.

It also has implications for getting mankind even further to the Moon, possibly to Mars, and even exploration further in the cosmos.

This new technology also has potential applications for military defense. For instance it could be used to monitor troop movements in the field.

But what rocket and space corporation Energia is trying to really stress is the new system’s civil defensive potential.

“Some media outlets have misinterpreted our words on the application of the system – saying it might be used to propel a military spacecraft with offensive capabilities into space. In reality the system will help provide communications in regions hit by natural disasters and military conflicts. It will also be used to avert an asteroid threat and to monitor our territories,” Energia’s statement says.

The advantage of such an engine is that unlike conventional rockets that burn for minutes putting out enormous amounts of thrust for very short periods this nuclear rocket will operate continously probably for years so the longer the trip the more efficient its use as a power plant.

Regarding radiation, outside Earths atmosphere there is radiation from the sun and deep space all over the place.

Technology makes things cheaper now.In a decade or two companies may afford to have space launching facilities

What we need is a probe or spacecraft to visit the asteroid belt and find a huge asteroid made of solid gold, or titanium or something similarly valuable or even useful.
I kinda have mixed feelings about space exploration... I think it is good that we have life established on several rocks in this Solar system as soon as possible because if we can learn to live self sufficiently on Mars then the technology that allows that might be used to allow us to do it better on Earth. I also think having our eggs in more than one basket will be useful the next time a large asteroid happens to smash into Earth as it seems to have done many times in the past.
My negative feelings however are that when we start expanding we will start exploiting and polluting as we go and with the new sources of resources we wont bother learning to conserve... we can always pillage the next frontier...

"What we need is a probe or spacecraft to visit the asteroid belt and find a huge asteroid made of solid gold, or titanium or something similarly valuable or even useful."

We must if we want to have access to more resources.

"I kinda have mixed feelings about space exploration... I think it is good that we have life established on several rocks in this Solar system as soon as possible because if we can learn to live self sufficiently on Mars then the technology that allows that might be used to allow us to do it better on Earth. I also think having our eggs in more than one basket will be useful the next time a large asteroid happens to smash into Earth as it seems to have done many times in the past."

This is the only thing that in the long run will save our species.

"My negative feelings however are that when we start expanding we will start exploiting and polluting as we go and with the new sources of resources we wont bother learning to conserve... we can always pillage the next frontier..."

Pollution doesn't matter because space is infinite.There is no purpose in conserving pillaging the next frontier is far more important.

What I mean is that if we can't learn to live in balance with Earth where survival is largely easy and food and water and other essentials are abundant then surviving elsewhere will be much harder.

A bit like a kid with a toy... if it treats it badly and keeps on breaking it why give it another toy?

The solution to a kid smashing an expensive toy is not to keep giving it more toys... you have to teach the kid to respect what it has first.

Perhaps we might all work together better if there is an external threat, like hostile aliens, but it is sad to think the only way humanity might sort its sh!t out is such a drastic thing.

People will freely admit dog is mans best friend, and that is sad that our ideal friend is reliant on us, devoted to us, loyal to us... and of a different species.

Our ideal friend does not disagree with us and does things the way we do things.

Going OT... will stop it now

Here is an infographic showing some near future plans of the Russian space agency:

Russia Considering Cooperation In JUICE Jupiter Mission

The Russian space agency is considering participating in a developing project to send a spacecraft to Jupiter.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is starting-up the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) project, and Russian scientists are considering the possibility of participating, according to a Voice Of Russia report.

Lee Fletcher from JUICE’s Oxford University scientific group presented the objectives of the mission at the Scientific Assembly of the International Committee on Space Research in Mysore, India.

The JUICE mission is a reduced version of the EJSM project, which included two satellites: ESA’s JGO meant for exploring Jupiter and Ganymede, and NASA’s JEO, intended to explore Jupiter and Europa. Japan was expected to participate in the EJSM project as well to study Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

Jupiter isn’t frequently visited by spacecraft, despite it being the largest planet in the Solar System. Cassini passed by the planet on its way towards Saturn, while New Horizons passed by on its way to Pluto.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft launched August 5, 2011 towards the giant gas planet, and it will take five years to complete its nearly 1,700 million mile journey.

Juno will be studying the deeper layers of the atmosphere, while the planned JUICE mission will focus on the upper layers.

The Voice Of Russia said that Russia is interested in the JUICE project because when the EJSM project was under development two years ago, Russian scientists suggested joining the program with their spacecraft aimed at landing on Europa.

JUICE’s mission plans doesn’t include a trip to Europa, so Russia is reviewing the plan of the mission and determining whether it should either send a spacecraft to conduct research on the spot, or send a mission to Ganymede, according to the report.

The next launch for the Russian planetary program is scheduled for 2014, which is a joint Russian-Indian Luna-Resource project that includes a Russian lander. The Russian Space Agency also has plans for about two scientific missions up to 2018, including a lunar spacecraft.

“The question is whether or not it is compatible with a flight to Jupiter,” Olga Zakutnyaya for The Voice of Russia wrote.

“On the one hand, the international agencies’ practice shows that along with the smaller-scale missions, larger “flagship” projects are constantly being developed,” Zakutnyaya said. “On the other hand, perhaps, it would be more prudent for Russia to choose a gradual recovery of the space industry accompanied by more frequent, but less complex launches, and consistent development of various systems.”

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112662967/russia-considers-jupiter-mission/

Can't wait till they have a nuclear space tug developed... that will greatly increase interplanetary performance and give them better payload options too.

Roskosmos intends to repeat the launch of "Phobos-Grunt" for errors of the first space mission. Repeat start possible in the years 2016-2018.

http://ria.ru/science/20121008/769021415.html

The main efforts and resources of the Russian space program will be directed to the lunar missions

MOSCOW, October 8. (ARMS-TASS). The main efforts and resources of the Russian program will be directed to the lunar missions. This, as the ITAR-Tass reported today at the 3rd Moscow Solar System Symposium on Head of the Federal Space Agency Vladimir Popovkin.

He noted that the failure of the mission "Phobos-Grunt" forced to reconsider the approach to other planetary missions. "We need to increase the reliability of space vehicles, as well as the reliability of terrestrial systems," - said Popovkin, adding that it has also been modified procedure for implementing the study of the Moon.

In late 2015 - early 2016 will launch the project "Luna-Glob" under it on the surface of Earth's natural satellite will be delivered to the lander. "It will be done in the exploration of the South Pole of the Moon, the Earth will be delivered to the lunar soil - said the head of the Russian Space Agency. - There will also be explored mineral composition of the lunar surface and search hydrous rocks."

According to Popovkin, the successful implementation of this mission to solve two technical problems: test a soft landing on the moon and to the annual term of the equipment on the satellite of the Earth.

The project "Luna-Glob", besides the lander to study Earth's natural satellite will be conducted with the orbiting spacecraft, to be launched in mid-2016 "The orbiter is a complex program of flight, - Vladimir Popovkin. - We will change the height of the orbit to get a variety of pictures of the lunar surface. " So, plan to change the orbit from 100 km to 50 km, and then re-raise the spacecraft. For making such maneuvers Russian specialists will need to meet the challenge of establishing an appropriate propulsion system.

As the head of Roscosmos, the implementation of the lunar program also questions about the effective transmission of large amounts of information from the spacecraft to Earth. "The day will be sent to approximately 2.5 gigabytes of data, it is, in particular, will need to upgrade the ground complex" - said Popovkin.

Apart from the "Luna-Glob" to Earth's natural satellite will be sent to 2017 - 2018 years. mission "Luna-Resource". "We look forward to close cooperation with the European Space Agency in the framework of this project, and such arrangements already exist," - he said.

Roscosmos also expressed the view that "it is necessary to move from the study of man in space to a broad study of its capabilities in outer space."

Finally some good news

Russia is returning to the Moon       


Russia preparing to send three research craft to Moon - Academy Space Research Institute

"The first stage of our lunar program is already being implemented. The construction of the first three vehicles - Luna-25, Luna-26 and Luna-27 - is being financed," Zelyony said.

In his words, the Luna-25 mission is due in 2016, Luna-26 in 2018 and Luna-27 in 2019.

Russian Moon missions face three-year delay

Unmanned lunar missions designed to revive Russia's troubled deep-space exploration program will lift off three years later than previously promised. An official announcement of the nation's space science program at a major scientific summit in Moscow revealed significantly delayed launch dates for a trio of lunar probes.

During the 40th assembly of the Committee on Space Research, COSPAR, opened in Moscow on Saturday, Lev Zeleny, the director of the Space Research Institute, IKI, revealed latest schedule for the Russian planetary exploration and space science program. Although all previously approved projects still remain on the table, the nation's series of lunar missions face a domino effect of delays. Russia's first post-Soviet attempt to land on the surface of the Moon was pushed back from 2016 to 2019. Known as Luna-Glob or Luna-25, the unmanned lunar lander was designed to test landing techniques for future lunar missions. On the political front, the successful landing of the Luna-Glob would be a signal to the international scientific community that Russia is back in the planetary exploration business after the 2011 fiasco of the Phobos-Grunt mission. As a result, space agencies around the world would be much more confident that their investments into scientific cooperation with Russia would not be "lost in space."

A three-year delay of the Luna-Glob mission was dictated by a huge pressure on the Russian industry to develop and adequately test a complex landing system for the European ExoMars rover. The Russian space agency, Roskosmos, found itself in the driver seat of the European-led ExoMars program almost overnight, after NASA had bailed out, leaving the flagship project on the brink of cancellation. As a result, the European space agency, ESA, had no choice but to ask Russia to contribute its Proton rocket for the launch and also share the development of the rover's landing platform. Due to a combination of technical and economic problems, none of the Soviet or Russian space probes had ever succeeded in conducting science on the surface of Mars.

Ironically, the ExoMars rover itself will most likely face a delay from 2018 to 2020, even though all official Russian and European schedules still list 2018 as the launch date.

However, if ExoMars has to wait until 2020, the Luna-Glob launch in 2019 will still precede the liftoff of ExoMars in 2020.

Two remaining unmanned lunar missions in the approved Russian space program were pushed into 2020s. The lunar-orbiting mission, alternatively known as Luna-Glob-2, or Luna-26, was delayed from 2018 to 2021. In turn, the second lunar lander Luna-Resurs (a.k.a. Luna-27) equipped with a full complement of scientific instruments was now postponed from 2019 to 2023.

If successful, these missions might pave the way to a repeat of the Phobos-Grunt mission now provisionally promised to fly in 2024. More realistically, it could lift off sometime in the second half of 2020s.

Mars mission scheduled

Russia will lander for a new mission "EkzoMars 2018"

Russia to focus on Moon, Mars exploration, repeat Phobos-Grunt mission

MOSCOW, August 02, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian scientists will focus on Moon and Mars exploration and repeat the Phobos-Grunt mission in the next decade, Space Research Institute Director Lev Zeleny said on Saturday.

“The Moon and Mars are our priority for 2016-2025,” he said at the 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly underway in Moscow on August 2-10.

The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) in partnership with the European Space Agency will be carrying out two stages of the ExoMars mission in 2016 and 2018.

In 2016, Roscosmos is planning to join Europe and Japan in the BepiColombo project.

In 2017, it will orbit the Spektr-RG telescope and send a Russian rover, Luna-Globe, to the Moon in 2019, for the first time in years.

An UV observatory is to be launched in 2020; an orbiting module and a dropship are scheduled to be sent to the Moon in 2012 and 2023, respectively.

After thoroughly testing lunar and Martian technologies, approximately in 2024, Russia, may repeat its Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars’ satellite Phobos to collect its soil and bring it back to Earth.

Russia is planning a manned mission to the Moon in 2030-2031, Roscosmos First Deputy Head Alexander Ivanov said in July.

“In our programme this [manned mission to the Moon] is scheduled for 2020-2031. This programme [Federal Space Programme for 2016-2025] is being coordinated now,” he said.

When asked when the first settlement might be built on the Moon, Ivanov said this question was much more complex and needed additional attention.

Russia to create new landing platform for Mars exploration program

MOSCOW, August 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian specialists will create a new landing platform and several unique scientific instruments for ExoMars-2018, a joint exploration mission with their European colleagues, a space official said on Monday.

“Under the current agreements, Russia will not only provide launch vehicles and some scientific instruments, but it will also create a landing module for the ExoMars-2018 mission,” Daniil Rodionov of the Space Research Institute, who is also the Russian manager of the joint project, said at the 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly underway in Moscow on August 2-10.

A dropship being created by the Lavochkin Production Association, will deliver the Russian landing platform and a European 300-kg Mars rover to the planet.

Stage One of the ExoMars project includes a European orbiting module and a dropship. The orbiting craft TGO (Trade Gas Orbiter) is intended for studying trace gas in the atmosphere and the distribution of water ice in Mars’ soil.

The 'Rocknest' site, which has been selected as the likely location for first use of the scoop on the arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity
Russia close to sending sustainable mission to Mars
The Space Research Institute is making two instruments for the TGO. One is intended for studying the chemical composition of Mars’ atmosphere and climate; the other one for chartering high spatial resolution maps showing the distribution of water ice in the upper layers of the planet’s soil and radiation monitoring equipment.

The institute will hand over the instruments to the European Space Agency at the end of the year. After the rover with the Russian instruments rolls off the landing platform, the latter will start monitoring daily, seasonal and yearly processes on the planet’s surface. It is designed to operate for one Martian year (approximately 1.8 Earth years).

Russia has also come closer than other countries to launching sustainable long-term manned space missions, Vladimir Uiba, head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency told ITAR-TASS.

“We expect positive results from experiments. Then we will be able to say whether or not we know how to provide for the vital life sustenance of cosmonauts during a long mission,” he said.

Russia, European Space Agency to cooperate on Mars Moon mission
He said man would fly to Mars and beyond in the future, but “without experiments like those we are doing on Foton [satellite] no one can say how to provide sufficient supply of oxygen, food and so on for such a long flight”.

Uiba said no one in the world had such information, “neither the United States no China”. “We have come closer to the answer as our Fotons allow us to model life-support systems for people,” he said.

Deputy Director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems, Oleg Orlov, said a biosatellite, Bion-M j 2, would be orbited as part of the program in 2019. It will be followed by another one, Bion-M j 3, approximately in 2022. Also, Vozvrat-MKA spacecraft will be launched in 2021 and 2025.

Russian scientists develop unique rover descent system for ExoMars project

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Russian scientists have created a unique descent system for a Mars rover, Space Research Institute Director Lev Zelyony said on Friday.

“Our European colleagues want to achieve maximum security for the rover so that it could roll onto Mars’ surface in any direction, if need be,” he said.

“We have developed such a system. It has been decided to make two access ramps which will allow the rover to roll off the landing platform,” Zelyony said.

Russian scientists will focus on Moon and Mars exploration and repeat the Phobos-Grunt mission in the next decade, Zelyony said earlier.

The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) in partnership with the European Space Agency will be carrying out two stages of the ExoMars mission in 2016 and 2018.