Russia's Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft is seen before launch at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Mikheev)
The Spectrum-M space observatory will be a 10-meter space telescope designed to study various objects of the Universe at millimeter and infrared wavelengths from 0.07 to 10 mm.
MOSCOW, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia and France are preparing an agreement on the Spectrum-M space observatory to study deep space objects and in particular look for traces of extra-terrestrial life, TASS news agency reported Wednesday.
It quoted Larisa Likhachova, deputy director of the P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI), one of the oldest Russian research centers, as saying that an agreement was being drafted with the participation of the French government space agency, the National Center for Space Studies.
She expressed concern that due to a reduction in funding for the project in 2019, the observatory will not be launched until 2030.
The observatory, also known as Millimetron, is a project led by the LPI's Astro Space Center. It will be located at a distance of 1.5 million km from the Earth.
It will be a 10-meter space telescope designed to study various objects of the Universe at millimeter and infrared wavelengths from 0.07 to 10 mm.
With its help, scientists expect to obtain data on the global structure of the Universe, the structure and evolution of galaxies, their nuclei, stars, planetary systems, objects with superstrong gravitational and electromagnetic fields, as well as organic compounds in space. ■
