Russia Plans Human Colony On Moon, Will Send 12 Cosmonauts Soon

Russia's recently unveiled its plan to build a colony on the moon, a project which has already started to take shape as per reports. The country's space agency Rosmocos announced its plans of stationing 12 cosmonauts permanently on the lunar surface by 2030. The base on the moon will be used for mineral mining, research and reportedly also for military purposes.

"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," said Olga Zharova from the Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TsNIIMash). The lunar base will have power back up from a sub surface energy station close to one of the moon's poles. The base will also have an underground fallout shelter to protect the cosmonauts from nuclear attacks or radiation.

Previously, Roscosmos had revealed that it wanted to launch a lunar probe by 2024 to search for possible colony locations, before sending humans to the planet in 2030. According to the latest reports by Russian news agency TASS, the nation has already started work on constructing the Luna 25 lander which will carve the path for human exploration.

In addition, the Russian space agency is also working on the Angara-A5V heavy-lift carrier rocket, which will be used for sending the important components required for human habitation. Furthermore, Russia will use six different launches of the Angara rocket to complete the moon mission. Each of the individual launches will send a new module to the lunar surface, so that the base can be created gradually, piece by piece. The assembly time of the lunar base is expected to take 10 years and more after the modules are sent. Meanwhile, Russia's Deputy Premier Dmitry Rogozin had also stated that the country was planning to set up a moon base forever.