>>13552674Mars' are doing well
The Soviet Union informed on tuesday, that everything is well with the Mars 2 and 3 ships, currently heading for Mars.
News provider Tass informed, that the 5 ton Mars 3 made a course correction on tuesday to reach Mars in November. "Disputed claims say that the correction was successful" Tass said.
Mars 2 launched on the 19th of May, and Mars 3 followed nine days later. The journey to the red planet will take half a year.
The Soviet Union has yet to inform, what the mission of these ships is once they arrive. Space commentators have hinted that a soft landing may be attempted, and attempts to find life on Mars.
The large size of the ships may indicate, that they have been equipped with the required instrumentation for a soft landing.
Tass said, that on tuesday morning Mars was approximately 4.8 million kilometers, and Mars 3 about 2.8 million kilometers from earth.
Apollo 15 - record flight
Washington 8.6. (Reuter)
The Apolo 15 mission slated to land on the Moon next month will last 12 days, making it longer than any previous Moon mission, mission lead planner Chester Lee informed on tuesday.
He said in a press conference, that the lenght of the mission and the long time the astronauts will spend on the Moon's surface will require longer resting times for them than before.
The astronauts will spend 67 hours on the surface of the Moon and will travel 36 kilometers in their vehicle. If the vehicle breaks, the astronauts will simply be able to walk back to the Moon craft, Lee said.
He said that the landing spot for Apollo 15 will be close to a collection of craters near the hills of the Hadley-Apennine region.
The site is about 32 kilometers from the previous Apollo landing site.
