Executive Director for Science and Long-Term Programs of Russian space agency Roskosmos, Alexander Bloshenko, announced on Monday that Russia is planning to establish a base on the Moon, that can be used to monitor comets and asteroids and serve as a intermediate station for flights to other planets.
Roscosmos will present to the Russian government a program for the study and exploration of the Moon at the end of this year, with detailed plan for the base to be implemented after 2025, agency’s official said.
According to Bloshenko, equipment for the study of outer space and special telescopes for tracking asteroids and comets posing a threat to the Earth are expected to be placed at the lunar base in the south pole of the Moon.
Roscosmos also plans to create a testing ground there for technologies that will be needed to fly further into space, the official said.
He said that robotic systems will deal with the base’s infrastructure maintenance, while humans will make periodic visits for solving tasks that robots are unable to perform.
