Aug. 31, 2007 — Russia plans to send a manned mission to the moon by 2025 and wants to build a permanent base there shortly after, the head of Russian space agency Roskosmos said Friday.
"According to our estimates we will be ready for a manned flight to the moon in 2025," Anatoly Perminov told reporters. An "inhabited station" could be built there between 2027 and 2032, he said.
The only moon landings in history were under NASA's Apollo program, which began in 1968.
In December, 2006, NASA announced plans to establish a permanently-occupied lunar base with manned missions starting in 2020, calling it a key step in further human exploration of the solar system.
The plans were stimulated in part by President Bush’s declaration of a new vision for space exploration in January 2004, in which he spelled out establishing a moon base by 2020 and then traveling to further destinations, including Mars.
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A spokesman for the Russian space agency announced last May that Russia would not participate in lunar exploration with NASA. But Russia still plans to stand by NASA in completing the International Space Station.
Laying out Roskmosmos' plans for the next three decades, Perminov said that Russia's space program receives less than 10 percent the funding the U.S. program receives, yet retains great ambitions.
Russia intends to complete construction of its section of the space station by 2015 so that the ISS "becomes a fully-fledged space research center," he said.
"Major modernization" will also be carried out to the Soyuz craft used to ferry people and cargo to the space station.
An expedition to Mars remains a long-term ambition for Roskosmos, which hopes to mount manned flights there after 2035, he said.
Many difficulties linked to the planet's extreme physical conditions remain unresolved, however.
"Current spacecraft do not provide the protection needed for the crew to survive and return to Earth," he said.
The expected two- to three-year duration of the voyage would also involve huge challenges in terms of storage space and stress on the crew, he said.
China, meanwhile, has stated its own ambitions to explore the moon. China lunar program vice director Long Lehao announced in June 2006 that the nation hoped to send a manned mission to the moon by 2024.
