[X] My Assistant

[RNeuhaus]

Russians have Lots of ambitious lunar program:

The ambitious flight, entering initial design, will include a lunar orbiter that, under the current plan, will also simultaneously deploy 13 probes across diverse regions of the lunar surface. This will include two penetrators that will be fired toward the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 landing sites to acquire subsurface data to build on the manned exploration and instrumentation left at those locations 37 years ago by U.S. astronauts.

The Russian flight is also to shower 10 other higher-speed penetrators on the Moon that will form a seismic network to help solve questions about the Moon's origin.

And much more programs are in the following URL.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1131

Rodolfo

[PhilHorzempa]

I am thrilled that Russia is, at alst, getting back into the business of
lunar exploration. However, the "Luna-Glob" name isn't very appealing.

Let me suggest the title of Luna 25.

[Guest_DonPMitchell_*]

A few diagrams from the Russian sites:

[attachment=6157:attachment] [attachment=6158:attachment]

Schematic of the arrangement of the automatic spacecraft of project "Moon-Glob" under the nose fairing of carrier rocket "Molniya": 1 - the nose fairing of rocket, 2 - landing cut off small station, 3 - landing apparatus, 4 - migratory module, 5 - cassette with small penetratorami, 6 - the adapter of fastening to the starting block, 7 - starting block "Fregat".

[attachment=6159:attachment] [attachment=6160:attachment]

Here's a version of the mission proposed in the mid 1990s, using Block-L rather than Fregat (left). There were also designs drawn up for Mars-Glob and Marsokhod missions using Soyuz/Molniya class rockets (right).

[RNeuhaus]

The Russian project: Moon Glob has the purpose to determine if the Moon was or not formed from the Earth after the Marsizelike has struck the early molten Earth, knocking off material that later coalesced to form the Moon. If that is the case, the Moonquake data should indicate the lunar core is only about 0.4% of Moon's total mass.

But, if the new quake data show that the core is significantly more massive, about 5%, it would indicate the Earth and Moon were formed separately out of ancient material in the planetary nebula.

Moon has lots of quakes. Most of them are small and deep-seated, and take place when the tidal effects of Earth and the Sun are strongest – at times of perigee, apogee, new moon, and full moon.

Rodolfo

P.D.Click for a very good encyclopedia about Moon.
A good paper which details about Moon Glob's plan: Luna-Glob project in the context of the past. Edited by E M Galimov