Russia plans to send cosmonauts to Moon for first time in next decade
Cosmonauts of the Russian space agency Roscosmos Pyotr Dubrov, Oleg Novitskiy in a training session.
Russia has been planning to send cosmonauts to the Moon for the first time in history. The cosmonauts are likely to go to the Moon in the next decade and intend to construct a moon base from 2031, as per the Russian corporation which is responsible for manned space flights, as reported by state news agency TASS.
Vladimir Solovyov of RKK Energia presented a draft plan and stated that Russia has been planning manned missions to the moon, which includes the first landing on the moon by a Russian along with building a moon base, stated TASS on Wednesday.
"Preparations for the deployment of a lunar base - 2031-2040," quoted TASS in the draft plan as saying. The plan further emphasised exploiting the resources of the moon.
Russia's weakening space programme
In August, the first moon mission carried out by Russia in 47 years failed after its Luna-25 spacecraft went out of control and crashed into the moon. The failure underscored the problems which have crept inside their once mighty space programme.
The Russian space agency's head had stated that the Luna-25 spacecraft had crashed because its engines failed to shut down correctly, and he also held the decades-long pause in the country's lunar exploration for the mishap.
The pilotless Luna-25 was set to land on August 21 while it had aimed to achieve the feat of becoming the first spacecraft to touch down on the moon's south pole, an area where scientists have suggested precious elements and major reserves of frozen water may exist.
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In 1969, US astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, however, it was the Luna-2 mission of the Soviet Union which was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the moon in 1959, and the Luna-9 mission in 1966 became the first to make a soft landing on the moon.
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into outer space, however, Soviet cosmonauts never did a human landing on the moon.
(With inputs from agencies)