Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!inria!irisa!thomas
From: thomas@irisa.UUCP (Henry Thomas)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: "Beyond the Energia crisis"
Summary: Russians and Planets
Keywords: Soviet/American shuttle comparison
Message-ID: <816@irisa.UUCP>
Date: 23 Nov 88 14:59:25 GMT
References: <880@cernvax.UUCP> <10654@tekecs.TEK.COM>
Organization: IRISA, Rennes (Fr)
Lines: 28

In article <10654@tekecs.TEK.COM>, nobody@tekecs.TEK.COM (-for inetd server command) writes:
> I recall reading in "Chariots for Apollo" (the NASA history of the
> Moon program) that the Soviets soft-landed a probe on the Moon.
> It scooped up some soil, and successfully returned it to Earth!
> This all happened just a year or so before the U.S. manned Moon
> landing.  Anyone else know more about this?

Yes. The russians send in the first half of the '70s two unmanned buggies
on the moon: Lunakhod 1 & 2.
"Lunakhod" was a platform carrying a remote-guided buggy which picked up some
soil and went back to earth. By the way, the laser reflectors carried by
the Lunakhods were french ones.

Talking about russians, the first man-made object to land on Mars was 
russian. It's name was "Mars 3" and it happened in '67 (not sure of the date).
"Mars 3" was a kind of dart which plunged in the martian soil and then begin
to emit measurements. Less than 60 seconds after, the signal died.
Anyway, it was before VIKING I & II. The russians then concentrated their
efforts on venus.
By now, they says that Energya can send 30 tons toward Mars...

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Henry Thomas			    | Phone:  99.36.20.00 extension 549     |
Equipe API			    | Fax:    99 38 38 32		    |
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Campus Universitaire de Beaulieu    | E-mail: thomas@irisa.fr	            |
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