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Russia begins preparations for delivering soil samples from Venus

According to M. V. Keldysh Research Center’s CEO Vladimir Koshlakov, work on the 2034 project has already begun

MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. The S. A. Lavochkin Research Association has begun work on a mission to deliver soil samples from Venus, as follows from a magazine article by the M. V. Keldysh Research Center’s CEO, Vladimir Koshlakov.

"Work on the 2034 project has already begun," said Koshlakov in the article published in the Lavochkin Association’s science and engineering news bulletin. "At the Lavochkin Association’s request the Keldysh Center has joined research into the composition and main characteristics of a solid-propellant take-off module capable of delivering samples of soil, atmosphere and aerosols from Venus to Earth," Koshlakov said.

In 2021, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin announced that in November 2029 Russia would send a Venera-D probe to Venus.

The probe will consist of an orbiter and a landing module for a comprehensive study of the planet's atmosphere, surface, internal structure and surrounding plasma.

The Venus exploration program includes two missions. One, scheduled for June 2031, will continue the examination of the planet's atmosphere. And the other, due in June 2034, will deliver samples of the atmosphere, aerosols and soil from Venus to Earth.

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