In October last year, a group of Russians caught fire with a very interesting idea. Space enthusiasts and engineers have decided to develop a small spacecraft that will fly to the Moon and allow us to study its surface with unprecedented thoroughness. This will give our compatriots the opportunity to find all traces of extraneous activity on a natural satellite of the Earth and find out whether American astronauts actually landed there in 1969.
The authors of the project founded the private space company Dauria Aerospace. One million seven hundred and fifty thousand rubles have already been collected from various sources of donations. Using these tools, enthusiasts will prepare a detailed technical description of the mini-satellite, justifying the possibility of this ambitious venture and calculating its approximate cost. It is reported that the construction and launch of the aircraft will cost the Russians at least twenty million dollars, while the satellite will be delivered to the lunar orbit by a passing flight of one of the Roscosmos rockets.
The satellite is getting heavier and more expensive
Initially, it was planned that the mass of the space probe will be fifty kilograms, but the engineers had to make significant adjustments to the project, and it increased to one hundred and sixty kilograms. The mass was increased by strengthening the radio equipment, installing retractable solar panels and lengthening the telescope. In addition, they decided to equip the device with a more advanced fuel system, which allows activating, if necessary, a small or large supply of fuel. So far, the only open technical question is the engine. Probably, the device will receive a rocket engine of domestic production. The dimensions of the probe will be three by one and a half meters.
The mini-satellite will reach a circumlunar orbit and begin to study the surface of the celestial body closest to our planet. The developers expect that the device will shoot in extremely high quality the place where the ships of the Apollo series allegedly landed. If NASA did not orchestrate these flights, then there should still be clear traces of American astronauts on the Moon. Dauria Aerospace is also interested in finding traces of unmanned spacecraft from the Soviet Union and China on a natural satellite of the Earth. In addition, the project may be of interest to Russian ufologists, because if there is something on the moon indicating representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations, the mini-satellite will most likely record this too.
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Now enthusiasts are working on creating a sketch of the satellite and developing design documentation. It is assumed that the launch of the probe will occur no earlier than 2020. Money for the project is collected on the Internet from patrons, one of whom, if you wish, you can become. It is noteworthy that the name of the device has not yet been chosen. It is not excluded that this will be done by sponsors, among whom there will be a vote for the best name of the mini-satellite.