MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia’s lunar exploration program should be a part of an international project, as none of major space powers is capable to explore Earth’s only permanent natural satellite without support of other states, the director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Anatoly Petrukovich, told Sputnik.
Earlier in September, Dmitry Rogozin, the director general of Russian Roscosmos state space corporation, said that the United States was offering Russia to participate in its lunar program, but the corporation was not satisfied with playing the second fiddle in the mission. The official was planning to meet his NASA colleagues to discuss the options of equal participation, independent exploration or engaging BRICS states in the mission.
“This is a large-scale task in terms of financial support and technical solutions. And this, of course, should be a base with great international participation, but Russia’s participation should be significant,” Petrukovich said.
According to Petrukovich, the lunar base is not a single compartment for the life and work of astronauts, but a multi-component structure, different parts of which will be formed by different countries. He added that scientists are not very mush interested in landing one person on the Moon, as such studies should be large-scale with the use of modern technologies.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
