China will launch a joint mission with Russia to Mars, a "milestone" in space co-operation between the two countries. The move follows pledges by Moscow to work more closely with the Chinese on missions to Mars and the Moon. A small satellite developed by China will piggyback on the Russian launch of a spacecraft called "Phobos Grunt", probably in October 2009. There was no mention of a timetable in the Chinese space agency statement. But earlier Russian reports said the launch window for the 10-11 month voyage to Phobos, Mars' largest moon, will be in October 2009. The mission plan so far is to have the Russian craft orbit Mars. Then the Chinese micro-satellite will detach from the Russian spacecraft, and probe the Martian space environment. The Russian spacecraft will touch down on the Martian moon Phobos and collect soil samples for return to Earth.
submitted by Shaun A. Saunders
submitted by Shaun A. Saunders
2 comments:
Paul, isn't 'grunt' a slang word in your corner of the world?
oh your so bad! and I was trying to be good!
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