President of Russia Vladimir Putin is making some ambitious claims about space exploration, suggesting that his country will reach Mars before the United States does, and that it'll find water on the moon.
Russia plans to launch its own Mars mission in 2019, ahead of NASA's 2020 Mars exploration plans. Putin revealed Russia's plans in a documentary about the president that was spread though social media channels.
Russia's Mars And Moon Missions
"We are planning unmanned and later manned launches, into deep space, as part of a lunar program and for Mars exploration," said Putin.
Putin is expected to re-helm the presidency in the country's election, which begins March 18. He said that Russia will also explore the moon's polar regions, adding that the would-be lunar mission would be different to the one Russia executed during the Soviet space program.
"[T]here is reason to believe that there can be water there," said Putin, adding that further studies may be performed from those locations. The documentary was uploaded to vkontakte, a popular social media channel in Russia.
As for Mars, the country plans on sending unmanned vehicles to the planet, but would eventually include people soon after.
The New Space Race
Putin's comments add fuel to what seems like a forthcoming space race for the modern era. Decades ago, the United States and Russia battled for the honor of being the first country to send a person to space. Russia eventually won for being the first to have an astronaut in space, but the United States took it a step further by sending actual humans to the moon. It can be argued that interest for space exploration has dwindled since then.
Until now, that is. Largely thanks to SpaceX.
For Russia, NASA isn't the only competitor in its quest to be the first to land on Mars. This time around, it will also compete with private space company SpaceX, which just recently launched its massive Falcon Heavy rocket following many successful attempts to launch rockets then get them back — an aerospace engineering marvel of its own accord. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has expressed interest in exploring Mars many times in the past, and has talked about plans to send people there, too.
Do you think we're currently in the middle of the space race for the new era? Who do you think will reach Mars first? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
