Russia will start sending people to the Moon in 2030

Russia has just developed a plan to put people on the Moon and will send the first people there to build a permanent base by 2030.

Russia will send people to the Moon. (Illustration: Getty)

"The Moon is a space target for future exploration by Earth's civilization and a geopolitical competition for the Moon's mineral resources may begin in the 21st century," the Izvestia daily quoted a report on a potential lunar conquest program jointly carried out by the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Roscosmos and Moscow State University.

The program aims to build a manned lunar base, which would serve as a testing platform, by mid-century, and also help mine minerals on Earth’s only natural satellite.

The project calls for the development of a range of long-range space technologies to ensure the country can conquer the Moon independently, without the need for foreign partners. Previous proposals have aimed for strong international cooperation, as it is believed that no single country can carry out large-scale interplanetary projects alone.

Russia plans to launch several separate lunar projects lasting three to four years each over the next 16 years.

The first four projects will launch between 2016 and 2025, focusing on determining the soil and chemical structure of the Moon's South Pole, where the base will be built.

Trips to the Moon and back will begin between 2028 and 2030. Eventually, living on the Moon will begin around 2030 and 2040.

The first phase will cost the government 28.5 billion rubles ($800 million).

Previous lunar explorations, beginning with the Soviet Union's Luna program in 1959 and the US landing a man on the Moon 10 years later, have discovered aluminum, iron, titanium, rare earths and other minerals./.

According to VNA