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Russia's new spaceship will fly you to the moon, let you swing among the stars

Russia's protracted attempts at replacing the aging space warhorse that is Soyuz may finally bear fruit. RSC Energia has announced that it has finished the design of a prototype spacecraft under the country's Prospective Piloted Transport System -- the equivalent of the Orion program. The as-yet unnamed craft is expected to be ready for testing by 2017, and unlike the current model, will be fully reusable. It's been designed not only as a taxi to take cosmonauts (and the odd multi-billionaire) to the International Space Station, but also ferry crews to the moon. That is, of course, assuming that Elon Musk doesn't get there first and make the moon his summer home.