Representatives of Roscosmos report that in the coming years, astronauts will set foot on the lunar surface for the first time. And the recently launched Russian-American project SIRIUS will help prepare for this.
Virtual Flight
Russian and American experts have joined forces to simulate a flight to the moon. It is about creating conditions that resemble a spacecraft. Crew members are a mix of astronauts and astronauts from the two countries who must learn to cooperate and cope with a number of tasks.
The whole experiment was spent 120 days, during which 6 people (28-30 years old) should fly to the moon, gain a foothold in orbit, select a place and lower the rover, control it and arrange the base for the first colony, land on the surface, return to the orbital base and go back to Earth.
All this is a simulation of the situation, or rather, an experiment. Experts will monitor all actions and decisions. They will appreciate the team's training, teamwork and notice the problems that have arisen during the mission.
Virtual Walk
Recently it was reported that the crew members will fully plunge into the atmosphere of lunar exploration. During the SIRIUS experiment, they will receive virtual reality helmets, and the program will simulate the exit to the surface of an earth satellite.
This helmet will be attached to the Falcon model of the spacesuit so that crew members can perform several moon walks and obtain “samples”. It is important to understand that all this is an experiment and no one will get out of the Earth. The base was created on the territory of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where the participants will be watched by experts. Previously, a similar project was carried out in 2017, but it lasted only 17 days (60 experiments were performed). The new will cover 120 days with the implementation of almost 80 experiments.
Real Flight
Vladimir Ustimenko (representative of Roskosmos) believes that the SIRIUS project will be another step towards the real launch of Russian cosmonauts on the moon. The USSR largely managed to be the first (satellite, a man in space, spacewalk, the first woman in space), but only Americans walked on the moon.
Now it is clear that Russia is trying to correct this situation. More specifically, Russia, the USA and China informally “compete” for flights to the moon. Many projects are carried out jointly, so returning to the earth satellite or the first landing is a matter of time.
Postscript
Initially, the Russian lunar program was planned to be implemented in the 2021-2040s. It includes 3 stages, where research rovers are first launched, then the base is installed in orbit, and after 2030 astronauts should appear on the surface. If everything goes as planned, then the first Russian landing will last 14 days.
