opinionRussia's space agency on Tuesday announced a recruitment drive for young would-be cosmonauts who it hopes will become the country's first on the Moon. In the first such drive for five years, Roscosmos space agency said it is looking for 6 to 8 cosmonauts who will operate a new-generation spaceship now in development and “will become the first Russians to fly to the Moon”. Russia is keen to rekindle the space triumphs of the Soviet era after a series of embarrassing glitches in recent years. It has announced plans for its first manned Moon landing by 2031. Russia currently has 30 cosmonauts, 14 of whom have never been in space.

Source: Sunday Times March 14, 2017 15:11 UTC