In a recent blog post, I talked about some of the lunar missions that the Chinese have planned. There have been recent reports that the Russians also have some plans for lunar missions.
The Russian space agency, RosCosmos, has been planning for a lunar base for years and is now providing some details of those plans. Initially, the plans call for at least two people to staff the base with the total permanent staff rising to twelve people. The current plan is to build a base near one of the poles of the Moon and to bury a power plant beneath the base. There will also be a buried shelter underground near the base. This shelter will provide protection from dangerous radiation from solar storms. The Russian base will be used for scientific research. There could also be mining operations to extract useful minerals from the lunar regolith.
The Russians have said that the underground shelter could also be used for protection against nuclear attacks. This suggests that there may also be military uses of the base. Radar arrays at the base could be used to keep track of satellites in Earth orbit and launches of missiles from bases on Earth. Missiles on the Moon could be launched against targets on Earth. If other countries have bases on the Moon, which is likely, nuclear missiles at the Russian base could be used against targets on the Moon. This is at odds with the international treaties that call for signatories to agree not to put weapons on the Moon.
The Russian timetable calls for launching a lunar probe in 2024 to survey possible locations for the base. Humans would arrive at the Moon to establish the base in 2030 although there may be manned flights in 2029. TASS reports that engineers are already working on the Luna 25 lander that will be used for exploration related to the base. The Angara-A5V heavy-lift launch vehicle is being developed to ferry equipment to the Moon for the planned Moon base. It is expected to take at least six Angara-A5V missions to supply the parts for the base. Each mission will carry a separate module for the base and the modules will be integrated onsite. Planners expect that it will take ten years to fully construct the base.
A Russian company called Energia announced plans for an eleven and one half ton reusable spacecraft that will be used to carry cargo and cosmonauts to the Moon in only five days. The craft is called the Ryvok. The plan is to send the Ryvok to the International Space Station with Soyuz ships and Angara Rockets. The Ryvok will be assembled at the ISS and fuel for the lunar missions will be delivered separately to the ISS.
Russia had plans to send cosmonauts to the Moon in the 1960s but they were never carried out. Russia has sent unmanned probes to the Moon but no humans. Now Russia says that it wants to focus on manned exploration and a permanent manned base on the Moon. The European Space Agency has expressed interest in joining the Russia lunar exploration program. NASA has been considering manned missions to the Moon and the Russian ambitions might accelerate a U.S. return to the Moon.
Mockups of Angara A5V rockets:
