MOSCOW, November 19 (Sputnik) — Scientists from Russia and the European Union are preparing an agreement on joint exploration of the Moon, Lev Zelyony, director of the Space Research Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Wednesday.
"There is a governmental agreement on the ExoMars program and now we are preparing an agreement on the participation of the European Space Agency in the exploration of the Moon," Zelyony said at the press center of news agency Rossiya Segodnya.
According to the scientist, the leaders of the European Space Agency and Russian Space Agency Roscosmos have affirmed their readiness to fulfill existing agreements and to sign new ones.
"A big, huge number of contacts with European scholars over the years, dating back to the Soviet era, have never stopped. Generations pass, but the friendship remains. Many Russian scientists conduct experiments on western devices, all of this comes under the agreements," Zelyony added.
The exploration of the Moon and Mars is a priority for the Russian space program. A landing on the Moon is planned in 2030 with the subsequent deployment of a manned base, where test sites for the accumulation and transfer of energy over large distances and new engines tests will be gradually deployed. Another heavy launch vehicle carrying up to 80 tons is being developed for the implementation of plans to fly to the Moon.
In spring 2012, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos agreed on the development of the so-called ExoMars program.
The research program includes the launch of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) in 2016, with the goal of collecting data on atmospheric gases present in low concentrations. The project also involves the exploration of ice found in the soil on Mars, as well as landing the ExoMars Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM).
The Mars rover is expected to land in 2018 and perform geological analyses of the planet's soil and search for traces of life.
In August Daniil Rodionov, a Russian scientific supervisor on the project, said that Russia will create a landing deck and provide a range of unique scientific equipment for the Russian-European mission to Mars.
