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Moscow (AFP) Oct 4, 2007 Russia is to provide the US space agency NASA with instruments for scanning both the Moon and Mars under agreements signed here Wednesday. Under accords signed by NASA administrator Michael Griffin and the head of Russia's space agency Anatoly Perminov, Russia will provide equipment for scanning for water on the Moon that could eventually help lead to its human habitation, said Gordon Chin, a NASA scientist leading the project. Chin said the Russian equipment, based on nuclear technology currently used by geologists in the oil industry, would be part of a Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter that will orbit the Moon about 50 kilometres from its surface and is to be launched in 2008. Russia will also provide similar equipment for a NASA rover that will land on the surface of Mars known as the Mars Science Laboratory. It is to be launched in 2009, said Igor Mitrofanov, a scientist at the Russian Space Research Institute. Russia is spending the equivalent of four million dollars (2.8 million euros) on the two projects, said Mitrofanov. "Russia sees cooperation with NASA as one of the most promising fields of cooperation and is ready in every way to contribute to the development and completion of new projects," said Perminov. Speaking on what was the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellite that marked the start of modern space exploration, Griffin said: "Our cooperation continues today through the International Space Station and many other noteworthy projects in a variety of fields. Such projects "demonstrate the commitment by our countries to continue to search for new projects when it is useful to cooperate," Griffin said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
Russian Silkworms Spin First Space Silk In History
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 04, 2007Silkworms on board the recent Russian Foton-M bio-satellite flight span the first space silk in history, a Moscow school teacher revealed Tuesday. As part of the satellite's scientific program, Moscow school students, led by biology teacher Alexander Koloskov, carried out an experiment to study how weightlessness influences the life cycle of silkworms. Experiments on board the satellite also revealed that worms are able to produce silk in microgravity conditions, but can not pupate, as they pass silk threads around the sticks they are sitting on rather than around their bodies.
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