Scientists in Russia have launched a robotic spacecraft to Phobos, a moon of Mars. The mission, that blasted off on Wednesday, is the first planetary mission since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Earlier the crew of a simulated mission to the Red Planet spoke about what it was like to be locked away in a capsule for 520 days.

The experiment was designed to test whether it is possible for humans to endure the round trip.

Al Jazeera's Neave Barker reports from Moscow.