MOSCOW - Russian scientists have started constructing space ships of a new type. One of them will allow travelling to USA through space, another is to land in Gusev crater on Mars.
First type ship is named “kosmoplan”, or “space-glider”. The model tests were successful, the ship took off and landed in an appointed place, Izvestia reports.
This ship is a kind of analog to American shuttle, as it does not need rocket carrier and vertical launch. Kosmoplan, like an ordinary plane, can take off unaided from an ordinary air field, then, reaching speed fourteen thousand km/hour it goes to the Earth orbit, and finally lands at an ordinary air field again. It can carry loads and passengers. A kosmoplan flight from Moscow to New-York will take fifty minutes only.
Kosmoplan uses oxygen-hydrogen mixed fluid as fuel, its hull is made of very durable composite carbon material. This material is used now for Proton rocket hull.
Not much detail is reported about the second type space ship. The cost of the Russian Martian project is about $20 billion. The spaceship must be ready to launch in 2018 when Mars and Earth are in opposition, which means the closest distance possible between them.
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http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=42032 May God Bless China!
