Russia is not going to prolong the operation of the International Space Station (ISS), which is insistently suggested by our American colleagues. On this occasion, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin replied that Russia needs the ISS until 2020. After this period, financial resources will be redirected to other, more promising space projects. Thanks to the published draft Concept of the Russian lunar program, today we have the opportunity to understand the future priorities of the Russian cosmonautics.
According to the concept presented in the media, Russia plans to conduct the exploration of the Moon in several stages until 2050. At the first stage, from 2016 to 2025, it is planned to send 4 automatic interplanetary stations to the natural satellite of the Earth, the main task of which will be to determine the composition of the Moon's soil and select the most suitable place for arranging the lunar base. At the second stage, from 2028 to 2030, it is planned to carry out manned expeditions to the Moon on the spacecraft, which is being developed by RSC Energia, without landing on the satellite's surface. In 2030-2040, it is planned to deploy the first elements of infrastructure on the Moon, including an astronomical observatory. For Russia's successful dash into space, a new Vostochny cosmodrome is currently being actively built.
If we talk about the time frame of the program, then they now look much more realistic than before. For example, the former head of Roscosmos, Vladimir Popovkin, voiced the agency's plans to equip a manned expedition to a natural satellite of the Earth in 2020. In passing, it should be noted that at this stage of development, only Russia from the entire international club of space powers has not sent any of its own spacecraft to other planets. This also needs to be taken into account when talking about the timing of the Russian space program.
At the same time, there is no place for the ISS in the new concept. However, until 2020, the station will in any case function, and by that time China is going to launch its own orbital station. The Chinese station "Tiangong-3" weighing 60 tons will be in operation for at least 10 years. Thanks to this, by 2020, in the Earth's orbit, at best, there will be two orbital stations, and at worst, only one Chinese, and the ISS can repeat the fate of the Mir orbital station.
At the same time, Russia has someone to explore space with. The plans of the PRC also include a place for the development of our only satellite. Moreover, after the successful landing of the Chang'e-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface and the successful mission of its own lunar rover, the Jade Hare, China is beating all the main participants in the new lunar race on points. China, like Russia, expects to gain a foothold on the surface of the moon by 2050. After that, China and Russia will most likely explore the Moon by joint efforts, because, unlike the EU and the United States, Russian-Chinese relations are currently not overshadowed by the difference in geopolitical interests and mutual sanctions. In all fairness, it should be noted that it is rather difficult to predict relations between Russia and the PRC in almost 40 years.
Countries such as India and Iran are also showing interest in space exploration. And if the latter is only at the very beginning of the space route, then India expects to carry out the first manned flight into space by 2020, and by 2030 is ready to join the program for the exploration of the moon. At the same time, India is going to explore space in close cooperation and cooperation with Russia.
Adjustments to the state program "Space activities of Russia for 2013-2020"
The state program "Space activities of Russia for 2013-2020", which was approved by the Russian government back in 2012, was subject to adjustment in 2014. The text of this program, I would like to believe that this is its final version, was published online on the official website of the Federal Space Agency. Alexander Milkovsky, who holds the post of general director of the main scientific organization of Roscosmos, FSUE TsNIIMash, made comments on this program on the pages of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.
According to him, certain adjustments to the program were associated with a change in funding for 2013-2015, as well as the technical unavailability of some devices and the emergence of new projects on the horizon. Among the new directions of work, he singled out the project "ExoMars". An agreement between the European Space Agency and Roscosmos on cooperation in the study of the red planet and other bodies of our solar system using robotic means was signed on March 14, 2013. For the implementation of this agreement, it was decided to include in the draft State Program the experimental design work called "ExoMars". For this project only from 2013 to 2015 should be allocated 3.42 billion rubles.
In addition, the new version of the program indicates the need to develop a new super-heavy rocket. The necessary technical and design groundwork is planned to be created by 2025, by the same time it is planned to begin experiments on ground-based testing of the elements of the launch vehicle. There are clarifications on the design of a promising manned transport system, if in the text of the previous program it was said about its creation by 2018, now it is expected to start flight tests only in 2021. This shift in terms of the project was due to the fact that the tests were about to pass a spacecraft, already intended for flights to the moon, and not only to near-earth orbit. It is reported that a new heavy-class rocket will be used to carry out a series of tests of this spacecraft, which will replace the Proton. In addition, the new space program provides for the development of a cargo landing complex, a manned take-off and landing complex, as well as other infrastructure facilities that Russia will need to explore the Moon.
Today, the leading domestic design bureaus of the space industry - Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, S. P. to the super heavy class. At the first stage, such a rocket should launch cargo weighing up to 80 tons into orbit. Possessing a rocket of such a carrying capacity, it will be possible to launch into space a manned spacecraft designed to fly around the moon, as well as allowing lunar expeditions to land on a satellite.
Russian designers should decide on the appearance of the new rocket already in 2014. At present, within the framework of research work on the Magistral project, a draft terms of reference has been prepared, and the leading Russian design bureaus have begun work on the creation of preliminary projects for the KKK - a space rocket complex with a super-heavy launch vehicle. These works should be completed in December of this year. After that, an examination of the submitted preliminary projects will be carried out jointly with the FKA, as well as all interested organizations. After that, the technical characteristics of the complex and its appearance will be finally determined, the terms of reference for its development will be prepared. Experimental and design work on the development of a superheavy-class launch vehicle is included in the draft of the Federal Space Program of Russia for 2016-2025.
This is only the first stage of work on the creation of new missiles. At the second stage, it is planned to increase the energy capabilities of launch vehicles. Rockets with increased power-to-weight ratio will be needed to solve the most ambitious tasks in the longer term (creating bases on the Moon, expeditions to Mars, visiting various asteroids, etc.). From this stage of the program, regular flights to the moon should begin, as well as preparations for flights to extraterrestrial space at a distance of more than 1.5 million kilometers from our planet.
The second stage involves the implementation of space flights to the Moon by the single-launch scheme, that is, without intermediate docking, the creation of lunar energy (nuclear, thermonuclear, solar), regular flights of cosmonaut crews to the Moon, an increase in the duration of a person's stay on the Moon (from several weeks to several months), the creation of the first lunar production facilities, testing of complexes for flights to Mars and asteroids. To solve all these problems, Russia will need a launch vehicle that can launch up to 160 tons of payload into space.
Why the Moon?
At the present time, when economic crises occur on the planet every now and then, many do not understand the importance of mastering and exploring the Moon. According to Alexander Milkovsky, everything depends on our point of view on this issue. If we approach the issue from the point of view of obtaining momentary benefits, then we really do not need the Moon. But any economic crisis is not the most dangerous phenomenon for the Earth. They were and will happen again. Much more dangerous for all mankind is the crisis of ideas, the loss of the scientific school and technology, the de-intellectualization of society. No one will argue with the fact that an educated person will be able to cope much faster with any problems that have fallen on him, including those from the field of economics. In this regard, astronautics is precisely the area where, due to the high complexity of the tasks being solved, the most intelligent personnel and development potential are always concentrated.
If we talk about the Moon, then the natural satellite of the Earth, of course, can be attributed to space objects of strategic importance. The moon is our scientific laboratory, energy and fossil resources of the future, a testing ground for testing and testing the latest technologies, a space port for future generations of earthlings. Science and the world do not stand still, they are constantly developing. In the future, the Russian Federation will need both the Moon and the red planet, but if the necessary groundwork is not made in the present, then we will lag behind and will not be able to compete with other participants in the space race. In the future, it became much more expensive and more difficult to restore the entire manned astronautics system from scratch.
Today, there is no consensus on whether Russia needs a lunar program even among Russian space experts. Many of them argue with each other, believing that flights to the moon are only a passed stage, a repetition of what was already in the 70s of the XX century. However, it is rather strange to think so. With the same success it would be possible to "freeze", for example, the development of all aviation immediately after the Wright brothers lifted into the air something resembling an airplane and flew only a few tens of meters. At the same time, scientific and technological progress over the past few decades has developed not even in jerks, but a fantastic take-off. Modern science and production facilities have gone far beyond the capabilities of half a century ago. In this regard, there are much more opportunities and functionality for the exploration and research of the Moon today.
Nowadays, the Moon is a bottomless storehouse of knowledge about the Earth, if we consider it from the point of view of conducting fundamental research. The origin of the Earth and the Moon are closely related. In order to finally reconstruct all the processes of the origin of life on Earth, scientific research on lunar formation is very important.
Erik Galimov, a member of the Bureau of the RAS Council on Space, back in 2009 in his work "Concepts and Miscalculations", which was devoted to the problems of exploration of extraterrestrial space, emphasized the fact that the expediency of mankind's return to lunar exploration is due to at least four factors: 1) Currently, the factual material that was obtained in the 60-70s of the XX century has been fully comprehended and revised. 2) New tasks were formulated that are associated with the development of cosmochemistry and geology. 3) There are tools and technologies that allow you to obtain new data with accuracy and detail, which were simply not available to scientists before. 4) Projects have appeared for the creation of stations on the Earth's satellite intended for astronomical observations, the extraction and use of lunar resources, etc.
The last point is especially interesting. Competition for natural resources on the moon can be serious. There is a lot of helium on the natural satellite of the Earth, and we are not talking about an inert gas, odorless and colorless, but its light isotope - helium-3. Helium-3 is the best raw material for a controlled nuclear fusion reaction. Moreover, the reserves of this isotope on the moon are simply enormous. Experts estimate them at a million tons. According to Erik Galimov, the reserves available on the Moon would be enough for mankind for a thousand years. Only one ton of helium-3 is capable of replacing 20 million tons of oil. In order to meet the needs of the entire Earth throughout the year, only 200 tons of this lunar substance would be needed. Russia's current demand is estimated at 20-30 tons per year.
At the same time, the content of helium-3 in the lunar soil is insignificant and is only about 10 mg per ton of soil. This concentration means that in order to meet the earth's needs, it will be necessary to open about 20 billion tons of reagent every year, which is equivalent to an area of 100 by 30 km with a reservoir depth of 3 meters. Realizing the immensity of the plan and work, it would be necessary to deploy the terrestrial mining industry on the Moon, as well as its fuel and energy complex. This process will take more than one decade, but it must be launched now, the academician believes.
