Russia plans to establish a permanently inhabited lunar base by 2030. The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced plans to station 12 cosmonauts on the moon's surface to conduct research and mine precious minerals. Russia aims to launch an unmanned lunar probe in 2024 to scout colony locations, followed by landing humans on the moon in 2030. The moon base will initially house 2-4 people, later expanding to 10-12, and will be powered by an underground energy station near the lunar poles. Russia hopes its lunar efforts will help spark a new space race and beat NASA's plans to return humans to the moon.

1. By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD FOR
PUBLISHED:07:58 GMT, 22 June
2016 | UPDATED: 13:17 GMT, 22 June 2016
Russia's plan to build a colony on the moon has
begun taking shape.

2. Roscosmos, the country's space agency, today
announced plans to permanently station 12
cosmonauts on the lunar surface.
The moon base will be used for research and
mining of precious minerals - but some suggest
it may also have a military purpose.
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3. +5
While the US has its sights largely set on Mars,
Russia says it plans to conquer the moon. The
nation is hoping to launch a lunar probe in 2024
to scout out colony locations, before landing
humans on the moon in 2030
COULD TIM PEAKE BE THE NEXT MAN ON
THE MOON?
British astronaut Tim Peake is already dreaming
of joining a mission to the moon days after
returning from orbit as the European Space
Agency unveiled ambitious plans to explore the
lunar surface.
The 44-year-old, who returned to Earth after six
months on the International Space Station on
Saturday, said he would go back into space 'in a
heartbeat'.
While he described feeling like he was suffering
from the 'world's worst hangover' after touching
down in Kazakhstan, he said he being part of a
mission to explore the moon would be a 'dream'.
'At the initial stage, the moon base will be
manned by no more than 2-4 people, with their
number later rising to 10-12 people,' Olga
Zharova from the Central Research Institute of
Machine Building told Izvestia.
The base will be powered by a sub-surface
energy station, near one of the moon's poles.

4. A fallout shelter will also be installed
underground, helping to shield the crew from
both radiation and any nuclear attacks.
Roscosmos has previously said it is hoping to
launch a lunar probe in 2024 to scout out colony
locations, before landing humans on the moon in
2030.
According to Russian news agency TASS, work
has already begun on building the Luna 25
lander that will pave the way for human
exploration.
Roscosmos is also developing the Angara-A5V
heavy-lift carrier rocket to sent parts for a human
base to the moon.
Overall, Russia will complete the moon mission
using six separate launches of the upcoming
Angara rocket.

5. +5
The launch of Angara-A5 heavy booster at
Plesetsk Cosmodrome on December 23, 2014 in
Arkhangelsk Region, Russia. Several launches
of this rocket will help Russia build a manned
base on the moon

6. Each launch will send a new module to the
moon, creating the base piece by piece, in a
similar way to how the ISS was put together.
Assembly of the moon base is expected to take
more than ten years.
Russia's first manned flight to the moon could
possibly be a year earlier, in 2029, according to
the head of Russia's state-controlled Rocket and
Space Corporation Energia.
Vladimir Solntsev, president of RSC Energia,
which is 38 per cent owned by the Russian
state, made the predictions at a space
technology conference in Moscow in October.
Separately, Russian company Energia last
month revealed draft plans for an 11.4 tonne
reusable spacecraft that will take cargo and
cosmonauts onto the lunar surface within five
days.
The 'Ryvok' project was announced in May at
the Human Space Exploration international
conference in Korolev, near Moscow.
The shuttle will be sent on the ISS by Soyuz
ships and Angara rockets.
Prior to the lunar mission, another launch to the
space station would send an 'accelerator block'
to act as fuel for Ryvok.
This makes the flight dramatically cheaper as
instead of a needing a rocket, all that could be

7. needed is a spacecraft and fuel to lift
passengers to low-Earth orbit.
When returning from the near-moon orbit, Ryvok
would open an 'umbrella' of 55 square meters
for braking in the Earth atmosphere.

8. In the 1960s the Soviets began developing their
own designs for a manned mission to land on
the moon with its N1-L3 Lunar Lander (left).
However, the project never flew and was
eventually cancelled. Earlier this year the
European Space Agency said it planned to work
with Russia on its mission to land on the moon
(right)
Currently Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, which are
built by RSC Energia, are the only vehicles
capable of sending humans into space.

9. Nasa has been relying upon the system to send
its astronauts to the International Space Station
along with regular supplies of cargo.
In a statement posted on the RSC Energia
website, Mr Solntsev said: 'The high-priority line
of activities for Russian manned programs in the
next 10 to 20 years is lunar exploration.
'Russia develops a new-generation advanced
transportation spacecraft, in the nearest future
development of other elements of the lunar
program will also begin.'
The new spacecraft, dubbed the Angara-A5V
heavy-lift carrier rocket, is expected to be built
using composites specifically designed for lunar
missions.
Russia has never landed a human on the moon
and plans to do so drawn up in the 1960s were
never completed after Nasa's Apollo moon
landings.

10. +5
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin
(right) speaks about plans for the new
rocket. The new spacecraft, dubbed the Angara-
A5V heavy-lift carrier rocket, is expected to be
built using composites specifically designed for
lunar missions

12. +5
Through the 1960s and 1970s there were 12
Nasa astronauts who landed and walked on the
surface of the moon. Since Apollo 17 in 1972,
however, there have been no humans to set foot
on the lunar surface.
A picture showing astronaut James Irwin, from
Apollo 15, is shown above
Instead, the country has concentratedon
sending a series of unmanned probes to the
lunar surface. However, it has not sent a
spacecraft to the moon since the sample return
mission Luna 24 in 1976.
However, the country's new effort to send
cosmonauts to the moon could see it beating US
in its attempts to return to the lunar surface.
Nasa had been planning to return humans to the
lunar surface as part of its long-term plans to
send astronauts to Mars.
However, the plans were scrapped in 2010
favour of landing on an asteroid in an
announcement by US President Barack Obama.

13. Hit by major funding issues, a mission to the
moon was seen as being a low priority although
some officials have indicated Nasa may send
future missions to orbit the dusty satellite.
A recent study funded by Nasa has, however,
also suggested Nasa is still hopeful about
establishing a human presence on the surface of
the moon.
The Evolvable Lunar ArchitecturePlan outlined
a cut price way of building a base on the moon
for around $10 billion using private rockets and
mining water ice from the poles.
The study, conducted by NexGen Space LLC,
said it would be possible to land humans on the
moon within the next five to seven years and
establish a base within 19 years.

14. +5
Russia's Soyuz spacecraft and rocket system is
currently the only method used to send humans
into space. RSC Energia, which builds Soyuz,
says it is working on a new spacecraft
specifically for mission to the moon
A number of former Nasa staff have also
suggested that the space agency is quietly
planning a mission to the moon as part of its
build up to Mars.

15. However, Russia's ambitious plans to return to
the moon could now trigger a new race to exploit
the minerals and other resources on the lunar
surface.
Earlier this year, the European Space Agency
said it was interested in joining Russia's
attempts to colonise the moon.
Esa and Roscosmos said they were working
together to send a lander to the moon's south
pole to look for water.
The Lunar 27 mission will launch in 2020 and its
primary mission will be to look for deposits of
water ice in craters on the surface, which could
be used by future manned colonies on the
moon.
Professor Igor Mitrofanov, one of the lead
scientists on the project at the Space Research
Institutein Moscow, told the BBC: 'We have to
go to the Moon.
'The 21st Century will be the century when it will
be the permanent outpost of human civilisation,
and our country has to participate in this
process.