Russian Luna-25 Mission to the Moon - Target Sample retrieval

The Luna-25 program will be carried out mostly as part of the Russian Federal Space Program for 2016-2025.

The Luna-25 exploration mission will cost tens of billions of rubles, an official from Russian Federal Space Agency said Friday.

"Let's say, we are talking tens of billions of rubles because it's a resource-heavy project, complex in terms of technical feasibility," Roscosmos' strategic planning chief Yuri Makarov said at a press conference in Moscow.

Russia will go back to the moon by the end of the next decade with the moon missions, or Luna-Glob project, Luna-25, 26, 27, 28 and Luna-29, missions aimed at further exploring the moon.

A mission to the moon has become one of Russia's top priorities in space. Russia plans to launch three lunar spacecraft - two to the moon's surface and one into orbit - by the end of the decade.

In September, Russian space agency Roscosmos reported that it was planning to launch a full-scale moon exploration program.

The program will be carried out mostly as part of the Russian Federal Space Program for 2016-2025. Russia is also looking at developing space exploration plans for 2050 and beyond.

Beyond LUNA-25
A Russian aerospace company official reported on Friday that new samples of lunar soil will be delivered to Earth in 2023-2025.

"The program currently has four missions: the first demonstration landing in 2025, an orbiter, which is needed to support all landing missions, then, the full landing mission Luna-27, and, around 2023-2025, there will be a project to deliver substance samples to Earth from areas near the [Lunar] south pole," Maksim Martynov, Deputy Designer General of Russia's NPO Lavochkin told reporters.

According to Martynov, the soil is to be delivered in its initial state, without experiencing any temperature changes and while preserving all its particles.

Russia Launches Proton-M with Military Satellite payload

Russia on Sunday successfully launched a Proton-M rocket carrying a satellite into orbit in the first such launch since one of the rockets fell back to Earth soon after liftoff in May.

The Proton-M rocket lifted off on schedule from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 am Moscow time (2023 GMT Saturday), carrying a Russian communications satellite, Russia's space agency said in a statement.

"At 09:26 Moscow time (0526 GMT), the satellite separated from the Briz-M upper-stage rocket and reached the set orbit," Roscosmos said.

Russia had suspended launches of Proton-M rockets after one carrying one of the country's most advanced communications satellites failed less than 10 minutes after liftoff on May 16 and burnt up in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

The Proton is the workhorse of Russia's space industry, earning tens of millions of dollars a year by launching Western and Asian satellites.

The upgraded M version of the Proton has experienced a string of problems that have threatened Russia's reputation as a reliable and cost-effective alternative to US and European rockets.

This image describes the trajectory of the Luch-M data relay network, a previous Proton launch mission.

Credit: RussianSpaceWeb

Sunday’s payload is a Russian Aerospace Defence Forces' geostationary satellite known as Olimp-K (Luch).

According to a Komersant report, the satellite will serve a dual role: One being electronic intelligence (SIGINT) and the other is providing secure communications for governmental use.

The Luch designation has historically been used for satellites with a data relay role. Therefore, the Olimp-K designation might relate to the ELINT payload while the Luch designation relates to the data relay payload.

The Proton-M was previously grounded in July 2013 when it crashed back to Earth with three Russian-made Glonass navigation satellites.

The Proton-M which lifted off Sunday is making use of a Briz-M fourth stage.

The Briz-M consists of a central propulsion unit with a detachable torus-shaped propellant tank mounted around it.

All four of the Proton’s stages burn unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel, oxidised by dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4).

This propellant combination is hypergolic, meaning the propellants will spontaneously ignite on contact, however it is also highly toxic which has led to calls for the Proton to be withdrawn from use.

It is expected that the Angara rocket, which is currently undergoing testing, will eventually replace Proton.

Russian and American astronauts: ISS Crew return to Earth

Russian doctors help US NASA astronaut Steven Swanson after he returned with two Russian cosmonauts from the International Space Station, near the Kazakhstan city of Zhezkazgan on September 11, 2014

Credit: ROCOSMOS

Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut returned to Earth on Thursday after spending more than six months working together aboard the International Space Station, as tensions between their countries soared over the Ukraine crisis.

Alex Skvortsov

American Steven Swanson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, who left on March 26, landed in the Kazakh steppe at 0223 GMT aboard a Soyuz capsule, the Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA said in joint statements.

The trio, who worked together in cramped quarters aboard the ISS, smiled broadly, gave thumbs up signs and waved in the sunshine as they spent their first minutes back on the planet.

The three spent a total of "169 days of science and technology research in space, including a record 82 hours of research in a single week" in July, NASA said in a statement.

The crew orbited the Earth more than 2,700 times and travelled more than 71.7 million miles, NASA said.

"One of several key research focus areas during Expedition 40 was human health management for long duration space travel as NASA and Roscosmos prepare for two crew members to spend one year aboard the orbiting laboratory in 2015," it said.

The ISS is now being commanded by Russian Cosmonaut Max Suraev, with crewmates Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency.

Three new crew members, Barry Wilmore of NASA and Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of Roscosmos, are due to arrive in two weeks, blasting off from Kazakhstan on September 25.

Elena Serova is the first Russian female cosmonaut to serve as an ISS crew member.

Amid the political tensions in Ukraine, NASA announced, in April, that it was cutting space cooperation with Russia over Moscow's Ukraine policies, but that work at the space station would not be affected.

Use of the space station depends very much on Russia, which is the only country with the capability of reliably transporting astronauts and cosmonauts to and from the facility.

The ISS was launched in 1998 as an international effort and has been a symbol of cooperation, particularly between the US (NASA), Russia (ROCOSMOS), Europe (ESA) and Japan (JAXA).

Aerial shot of the Expedition 40 Soyuz TMA-12M landing site.

Credit: ROCOSMOS 

Russia Launches Foton M4 Satellite: Live Animals on Two-Month Space Mission

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched a group of animals to space on July 18.

Credit: Roscosmos

A high-flying package of live animals, plant seeds, and materials samples shot into space Friday (July 18) aboard a retrievable Russian Foton satellite, launching a two-month mission focusing on microgravity research into biological and physical sciences.

The workhorse launcher fired its kerosene-fueled engines and lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2050 GMT (4:50 p.m. EDT), rocketing into a clear sky over the historic spaceport.

Launch occurred at 2:50 a.m. local time at Baikonur.

The three-stage Soyuz 2-1a rocket, a modernized version of the venerable launch vehicle, put the Foton M4 space capsule in orbit less than 10 minutes later.

The Russian Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos, declared the launch a success on its website.

Foton M4 space capsule

The more than 15,000-pound Foton M4 space capsule launched by the Soyuz rocket is due to spend up to 60 days in orbit, hosting 22 experiments supplied by Russian and German institutions probing questions in biological and materials sciences.

When the mission is complete, the spacecraft will break apart and its spherical landing capsule, fitted with a heat shield, will return to Earth with a parachute-assisted landing in Russia.

The re-entry capsule's design is based on the Vostok spacecraft that carried Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961 on the first human spaceflight.

It carries experiments to study the effects of the harsh environment of space on organisms, manufacturing materials, plus other investigations.

According to information posted on the Roscosmos website, the Foton M4 space capsule carries nearly 1,900 pounds of research hardware inside and outside the capsule.

A joint Russian-German experiment will study the growth of semiconductor crystals in microgravity, an investigation scientists hope will lead to advancements in solar cells, light emitting diodes, transistors and other applications in the electronics industry.

"The goal is to produce crystals with the highest possible quality," said a statement by DLR, the German space agency.

Polizon-2 furnace

Three types of materials will be heated up inside a Russian-made Polizon-2 furnace housed inside the Foton M4 spacecraft.

Once melted, the samples will crystallize as scientists study the influence of magnetic fields and vibrations on their growth.

The materials samples will be divided among Russian and German scientists at the end of the mission.

The gecko habitat on Earth before launching to space.

Credit: Roscosmos

Geckos and plant seeds are also flying inside the pressurized Foton M4 space capsule.

Researchers will monitor the effects of microgravity on the adult geckos, including their sexual behaviour and embryonic development, according to Roscosmos.

Scientists will have a continuous video recording of the gecko habitat aboard the spacecraft.

Dried seeds and silkworm eggs inside the Foton space capsule will be studied to determine their response to cosmic radiation, and the satellite carries several experiments for research into microbes.

The mission marks the 16th flight of a recoverable Foton spacecraft since 1985.

The Foton M4 mission carries several upgrades to extend the duration of its flight, including solar panels to generate electricity and a new propulsion module to adjust its altitude.

Roscosmos says landing in southern Russia is scheduled for September.

ISS: Russia and US have resumed talks on new joint projects

Russia and the US have resumed talks on new joint projects regarding the International Space Station (ISS).

The statement comes from Oleg Orlov, First Deputy Director of the Institute for Medico-Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Oleg Orlov said this refers to the conduct of joint research and joint use of the equipment installed in the Russian and American modules of the space station.

"Roscosmos (Federal Space Agency) has set a task of intensifying the scientific program being implemented aboard the ISS. We are ready for that."

"Specifically, together with the American partners, we discuss the possibility of consolidating the resources of the Russian and American segments of the ISS to render part of research a joint one.

"Scientists could use the technical resources available on board on our side and on the partners' one. It is possible to speak of more actively drawing the crew into the research program".

Russia's Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin stated in mid-May that the Russian Federation after 2020 would channel its resources into new, more promising space projects than the ISS.

Later, he added that Russia did not visualise a commercial sense in participating in the ISS project after 2020 because "this eats up more than one-third of Roscosmos budget".

"We do not pull out (of the ISS program) but it (the Station) was designed to operate until 2020 and until the target year we stick to our international commitments and also get contractual money for the delivery of American and European astronauts," he explained.

"We have great doubts about whether to extend or not to extend (the program) until 2024," Rogozin added.

Russian, German and US astronauts dock with ISS

A crew of Russian, German and US astronauts docked with the International Space Station Thursday as space cooperation between Moscow and the West continues despite their worst standoff since the Cold War.

"At 5:44 am Moscow time (01:44 GMT), the manned Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft docked successfully with the ISS," the Russian space agency Roskosmos said in a statement.

Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev, his NASA colleague Reid Wiseman and German Alexander Gerst from the European Space Agency opened the hatch into the ISS just over two hours later, Russian mission control said on its website.

Grinning broadly, they hugged the crew of three already on board the international space laboratory, US astronaut Steve Swanson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev.

The Soyuz craft had blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on schedule shortly before midnight Moscow time.

The astronauts took a six-hour fast-track route to the ISS after the previous crew to travel to the ISS in March was forced to spend two days in orbit due to a technical glitch.

The new ISS crewmembers are due to carry out a mission lasting 167 days and return to Earth in November.

Surayev, 42, is on his second lengthy ISS mission after his maiden voyage in 2009, when he became the first Russian space blogger. Wiseman and Gerst, who are both 38, are on their first space mission.

ISS Expedition 41 Astronaut team pose for pictures

Spaceflight is all about teamwork. ESA astronauts Alexander Gerst and Samantha Cristoforetti pose with their suited Russian colleagues Anton Shkaplerov and Maksim Surayev.

Credit: ESA

From the five space agencies that build and maintain the International Space Station to the mission control centres on Earth and the European (ESA), Japanese (JAXA), American (NASA) and Russian (ROCOSMOS) astronauts who fly to the space laboratory, international cooperation and knowhow is critical for a successful mission.

All four will leave Earth for the International Space Station this year. Alexander and Maxim are first up, on 28 May, while Samantha and Anton have their departure planned for 24 November. They will stay on the orbital outpost for around six months.

The ESA astronauts will support their Russian colleagues as 'third operators' if the cosmonauts venture outside the Space Station in their Orlan spacesuits.


Here they are preparing to train with the airlocks that separate astronauts in the Space Station from the harsh vacuum of outer space. Third operators help the spacewalkers put on and remove their spacesuits.

Alexander and Samantha are obvious choices to help the cosmonauts because they have both trained with the Orlan suit themselves.

All Station astronauts must speak Russian and English.

Alexander's Expedition 41 mission patch is visible below the European Astronaut Corps patch on his flight suit.

Russia's NORD device may travel to Mars 2020

NORD will help Mars 2020 rover figure out how humans can best use the red planet's resources and which parts of Mars are the most suitable habitats for humans in terms of minerals.

A device created by Russian scientists is bidding for a chance to travel to Mars aboard NASA's Mars 2020 rover.

In about five months or so, it will be clear whether NORD, the brainchild of the Moscow-based Space Research Institute, will participate in the mission.

NASA launched a competition for Mars 2020 research proposals in September. By now, the application submission is already over.

Mars 2020 is due to succeed its elder brother, Curiosity MSL, which has been exploring the red planet since August 2012. The new rover will be based heavily on the design of Curiosity.

The landing system and the chassis will be recreated without any additional engineering. This, NASA says, will reduce technical risks and make the project cheaper.

The main aim of the Curiosity mission was to find traces of past life-supporting environments on Mars. The goal has been achieved. Mars 2020 will look for traces of past life in those once-habitable environments.

Curiosity is equipped with DAN, a Russian-made neutron detector. DAN, or Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons, measures the energy of neutrons leaking from the ground.

It can detect water content as low as one-tenth of one percent as deep as 20 inches.

If water is present, liquid or frozen, hydrogen atoms slow the neutrons down.

These slower neutrons are measured by DAN.

"NORD has no generator. We replaced it with a gamma spectrometer designed to measure natural radiation on Mar's surface and analyze the chemical composition of Martian soil in areas explored by the rover," Igor Mitrofanov, an IKI laboratory chief, told reporters.

NORD will help Mars 2020 rover figure out how humans can best use the red planet's resources and which parts of Mars are the most suitable habitats for humans in terms of minerals.

The rock and soil samples collected by Nord will be stored inside Mars 2020 for several years until a new spacecraft arrives and takes them over.

It will then have to blast off to Earth - a complicated task, much more difficult than even blasting off from Moon, as it requires a rocket powerful enough to escape Mars' gravity.

ISS a space lab of 'unlimited' opportunity

International Space Station. Credits: ESA

It may be 350 kilometers (215 miles) above Earth and a place that only a privileged few will ever visit, but the International Space Station is crucial to advances in science, health and technology, experts say.

Earlier this month, NASA said the life of the $100 billion ISS would be extended by four years, or until at least 2024, allowing for more global research and scientific collaboration.

John Holdren, a senior White House adviser on science and technology, hailed the space station—mainly built with US money—as "a unique facility that offers enormous scientific and societal benefits.

"The Obama administration's decision to extend its life until at least 2024 will allow us to maximize its potential, deliver critical benefits to our nation and the world and maintain American leadership in space," he said.

The orbiting outpost, which was launched to fanfare in 1998, has more living space than a six-bedroom house and comes complete with Internet access, a gym, two bathrooms and a 360-degree bay window offering spectacular views of Earth.

Its entire structure is made up of various working and sleeping modules, and extends the length of a football field (about 100 meters or yards), making it four times bigger than the Russian space station Mir and about five times as large as the US Skylab.

The aging structure requires regular maintenance, which is done by astronauts who don spacesuits and venture outside the lab.

One such repair was completed Christmas Eve when two Americans stepped out to replace a failed ammonia pump that served to cool equipment at the ISS.

Julie Robinson, an ISS scientist at NASA, insisted that the space station, which has a mass of 924,739 pounds (420,000 kilograms) but is near-weightless in space, is worth the trouble and expense.

The ISS, which is maintained by a rotating crew of six astronauts and cosmonauts who have hailed from 14 countries, allows scientists to study the long-term effects of weightlessness on the human body, she said, while testing new space technologies that will be essential for missions to Mars.

"The goal of using the space station is to make discoveries that cannot be made anywhere else... and do research that is really focused on bringing benefits back to Earth by developing knowledge that can directly help bio-medical treatments, make new materials, have better Earth and climate observations," she told reporters.

Zond-PP: Russian Satellite Has Communication Problem

Zond-PP is a microsatellite designed to study the Earth's surface with a panoramic radiometer, including characteristics such as soil moisture and water salinity.

A Russian microsatellite is having a communication problem but it is too soon to suggest it has been lost, a federal space agency representative said on Thursday.

The Roscosmos press service representative said attempts to reestablish contact with the Zond-PP (MKA-PN1) satellite will continue.

The Zond-PP has been in orbit for a year and has fulfilled all the missions assigned to it, he added.

A space industry source earlier told reporters the satellite may have stopped functioning.

Zond-PP is a microsatellite designed to study the Earth's surface with a panoramic radiometer, including characteristics such as soil moisture and water salinity.

This data should help meteorologists build ocean circulation and climate dynamics models with a focus on energy exchange between land, the oceans and the atmosphere.

The Zond-PP was launched in July 2012 and was expected to operate for three years in an 820-km Sun-synchronous orbit.

Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft is captured landing with Expedition 35 crew on board

The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 35 crew.

On board was Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). 

The module landed safely in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. 

Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko returned from five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews.

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

NASA Extends ISS Crew Flight Contract with ROCOSMOS til 2017

NASA has signed a $424 million modification to its contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) for full crew transportation services to the International Space Station in 2016 with return and rescue services extending through June 2017.

NASA is facilitating development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability and the Orion crew spacecraft, with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the space station and low-Earth orbit beginning in 2017.

This modification to the Roscosmos contract will ensure continued U.S. presence aboard the space station as NASA prepares for commercial crew providers to begin those transportation operations.

Soyuz Progress M-52

NASA is committed to launching U.S. astronauts aboard domestic spacecraft as soon as possible. Full funding of the administration's Fiscal Year 2014 budget request is critical to making these domestic capabilities possible by 2017.

This firm-fixed price modification covers comprehensive Soyuz support, including all necessary training and preparation for launch, flight operations, landing and rescue of six space station crew members on long-duration missions.

It also includes additional launch site support, which was provided previously under a separate contract. The modification will allow for a lead time of about three years Roscosmos needs to build additional Soyuz vehicles.

These Rocosmos services will provide transportation to and from the International Space Station for U.S., and Canadian, European or Japanese astronauts.

The Soyuz Progress spacecraft remain as the only human spaceflight vehicles currently available.

Russia to Deorbit ISS Pirs Module in 2013

The ISS currently has five Russian-built modules: the Zvezda service module, the Zarya cargo block, the Pirs docking module, the Poisk ("Search") research module and Rassvet ("Dawn") research module.

Russia plans to deorbit and sink its Pirs docking module of the International Space Station later this year, a high-ranking official with the Russian space corporation RKK Energia said on Friday.

Alexander Kaleri, the head of the company's scientific technical center, said undocking and deorbiting Pirs will take place before a new Russian module docks with the station.

Alexander Kaleri

Alexander Derechin, RKK Energia deputy chief designer said in late March the launch of the multirole laboratory module (MLM) is tentatively scheduled for the end of 2013.

"The final spacewalk [by Russian members of the present ISS crew] is scheduled to take place before the arrival of the new multirole laboratory module (MLM) and will be devoted to the "departure" of the Pirs docking module. It should be de-orbited and sunk prior to MLM arrival," he said.

He said that Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to make six spacewalks this year, one of them is currently underway. The six-hour spacewalk by Flight Engineers Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko is due to end by midnight Moscow time [8:00 p.m. GMT].

Russia is planning to launch four new ISS modules - MLM, a node module and two science-power modules - by 2020, when the time comes to de-orbit the existing international outpost in space.

Soyuz Progress 49 Cargo Freighter Undocks from ISS

An unmanned Russian Soyuz Progress 49 cargo spacecraft left the International Space Station early Monday, making way for the next Progress space freighter, NASA said.

The ISS Progress 49 resupply ship, which spent more than five months attached to the station's Zvezda service module, was undocked at 8:02 a.m. EDT, the space agency reported.

After firing its thrusters to slowly move away from the ISS, Progress 49 will re-enter Earth's atmosphere Sunday and will burn up over the Pacific Ocean, officials said.

Its departure clears the way for the arrival of the ISS Progress 51 cargo craft that will ferry more than 3 tons of food, fuel, supplies and experiment hardware to the six crew members aboard the orbital laboratory.

Progress 51 is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan April 24 and dock with the station two days later, NASA said.

Russia to Launch New Wave of Lunar Robots

The Luna Glob orbiter and lander are on Russia's flight schedule for moon exploration between 2015 and 2020. 

CREDIT: IKI

Russia is developing a renewed robotic moon exploration program, building upon the history-making legacy of orbiters, landers, rovers and sample-return missions the country launched decades ago.

Russia's rekindling of an aggressive moon exploration plan was unveiled by Igor Mitrofanov of the Institute for Space Research (IKI) in Moscow during Microsymposium 54 on "Lunar Farside and Poles — New Destinations for Exploration," held in The Woodlands, Texas, on March 16 and 17.

The microsymposium was co-sponsored by Brown University, Russia's Vernadsky Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the NASA Lunar Science Institute.

Notable lunar firsts
Russia launched its last moon mission in August 1976, when it was still the Soviet Union. That mission, called Luna 24, was the last in the Luna series and featured a spacecraft that landed on the moon and returned samples of the Mare Crisium (Sea of Crisis) region.

The former Soviet Union's robotic lunar program achieved a number of notable "firsts" on Earth's satellite, including; 

• the first spacecraft to impact the moon; 
• first flyby and photograph of the lunar farside;
• first soft landing on the lunar surface;
• first lunar orbiter; 
• first circumlunar probe to return to Earth; 
• first automatic return of lunar samples; and, of course, 
• the first moon rover Lunokhod.

Today, Russian space scientists are scripting a new plan to reconnect with the moon.

"Exploration of the moon is an important part of the program," Mitrofanov said. 'I just want to emphasize that Russia is a spacefaring country not only with the robotic but also manned flight."

Mitrofanov said that the lunar pole is a most favourable place for future outposts for humans in deep space and emphasized that moon exploration was a step toward future Mars journeys.

NASA and Rocosmos: Expedition 35-36 Crew Members

(L to R) Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy of NASA, Expedition 35 Soyuz Commander and Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov of Roscosmos and Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos are seen during a break in training. 

Image released March 4, 2013.

Credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Russian Ganymede Lander Mission more difficult than expected

Russia's proposed landing mission to Ganymede was discussed extensively last week at an international meeting hosted by the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The mission to explore, and perhaps to drill, the Solar system's largest moon, presumably in close cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), would be a major challenge for Russia's space and science industries.

The project is generally approved, but success is far from assured.

The mission to Ganymede, now better known by the simple name of "Ganymede Lander", is the latest reincarnation of Russia's contribution to the Laplas project, promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the early 2000s.

With Laplas becoming the single-spacecraft project JUICE (JUpiter ICy moon Explorer, until christened officially), Russian plans have also undergone major changes, although their main objective, sending a lander to Jupiter's biggest moon, remained intact.

The initial aim was to explore Europa, a smaller Jovian moon, where there is an ocean of liquid water beneath its frozen surface (around 10 km thick) and is therefore considered a good prospect for the exploration of habitable conditions.

Ganymede also holds liquid water, but much deeper, under an icy crust of around 130-150 km. On the other hand, this moon is farther from Jupiter with less radiation than Europa, putting spacecraft at a much lower risk.

However, the main argument for shifting to Ganymede was that the European mission now no longer plans to stay near Europa long enough to provide the high resolution images needed to select a landing site.

It is supposed now that the JUICE orbiting spacecraft will provide the Russian lander with preliminary reconnaissance data and perhaps act as a communication relay station for data sent between Ganymede and Earth.

Hence, the current scenario is that the European mission is developing independently while Russia's landing spacecraft has its own scientific payload and objectives.

As the success of the landing relies on many technical issues closely concerned with JUICE, the Russian equipment and goals must be taken into account from the start when designing the eventual lander.

A more detailed mission scenario was presented by Maksim Martynov, deputy general designer of the S.A. Lavochkin Association and head of the design bureau.

Following the "play safe" rule, it is supposed that Russia will send two spacecraft to Ganymede, a lander and a small additional orbiter to secure the landing site as a back-up option to information from JUICE.

Even though launched simultaneously from a Proton launcher, they will arrive separately. After reconnaissance and remote studies of the moon, the lander will be delivered to the surface to begin its studies.

The start is planned for 2022-23 with the completion in 2029-30 (JUICE is currently scheduled for 2022) and subsequent arrival on Ganymede within a few months.

ROCOSMOS Soyuz: A Star is launched

Sarah Brightman once sang about losing her heart to a starship trooper. Now she’s paying more than £30million to become one herself – or at least as near as it’s possible for an earthly tourist to get.

The former wife of composer Andrew Lloyd Weber has confirmed she will be travelling to the International Space Station with the Russian Space Agency, ROSCOSMOS.

Reports in the US said she had ‘bumped’ an astronaut off the next flight after outbidding Nasa to secure her seat as the next space tourist.

The 52-year-old singer refused to say how much she paid for her place aboard the Soyuz spacecraft, but said she was getting sponsorship.

A US TV station said she had paid $51million (around £31.8million) – the highest sum ever offered for a ticket.

Miss Brightman will begin training for the mission in 2014 after a 12-month world tour and will lift off later that year for two weeks orbiting Earth.

 She said: ‘I am more excited about this than I have been about anything I have done. ‘Most of my life I have felt an incredible desire to take the journey to space that I have now begun. This is beyond my wildest dreams.'

She has already undergone physical and psychological tests in Moscow to prove she is fit enough for the challenge. ‘I was prodded and poked and a lot of blood was taken,’ she said.