Chris

The reason Russia never got to the moon was their rocket technology led them up a cul-de-sac. Werner 'V2' Von Braunn was successfully pioneering rockets that had a few, massive engines for NASA, while his rivals in the Soviet Union were busily trying to work out how to make dozens of much smaller engines work together to achieve the same aim. They were also experimenting with highly toxic, unstable chemicals for fuel. It got them nowhere.

I haven't seen or read anything to suggest that they have since developed the magnitude of controlled thrust required to make a lunar transit - something they are going to have to do, in order to prove the technology, before going anywhere near Mars. Humankind has been stuck in low Earth orbit for more than 30 years now, the Americans by choice but the Russians because they never got any further.

If America, which has the technology to do this, has felt the need to go back to the drawing board and publish a very long-term timetable, I'm not sure how the Russians plan to do it any faster. Still, I wish them every success - another space race is the only thing that is going to speed this up and make it happen any time soon.