Russia thought about the Moon seriously and for a long time. At least, the development of our closest celestial neighbor, or rather the "companion" with its subsequent colonization, is named among the three strategic tasks facing the country in the space sphere.
As said, Russia is going to come to the moon forever, since it is not an intermediate point in the distance. This is an independent goal. Indeed, it is hardly advisable to make 10-20 flights to the Moon, and then, leaving everything behind, fly to Mars or asteroids.
What attracts scientists and designers to the Moon? First of all, because it can become a unique training ground. No one denies the flight of a man to Mars, this is the most important scientific prospect, but long-term. And the Moon is a near target, an important intermediate stage that will help solve the Martian problem.
80 tons - a rocket of at least this carrying capacity will be required for flights to the moon
And you have to understand, experts say, this is not the moon on which the Americans once landed. We always thought there was no water there. It turned out there is - in the form of ice, and, according to estimates, quite a lot. And if ice, roughly speaking, is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, you get fuel for rocket engines. Can you imagine what opportunities are opening up? - the experts ask a rhetorical question.
The moon can be used as an international space station. Having located scientific equipment, radars, optical systems here, one can begin research that would be impossible on the ISS. Telescopes from the Moon will see better than Earth's! It will be a unique testing ground for new equipment and new technologies, including for future flights to Mars.
And, of course, proximity to Earth is another serious trump card. Fly to the moon for three days - there, three days - back. If you forget something, you can always deliver it. If the astronaut is ill, return it.
As the head of Roscosmos Oleg Ostapenko said in a recent interview with RG, the technological possibilities of creating permanent lunar bases that will perform tasks of a scientific nature are being considered. Now scientists are working on options for long-term autonomous stay of people on the moon.
At the same time, experts do not hide: since 1976, when the Soviet station Luna-24 brought samples of lunar soil to Earth for the third time, a lot has changed. There is experience in the technology of the same soft landing on the Moon, but it is now mainly a help as an example of how to work, and all elements of the technology require a radical update.
That is, we need to re-learn how to put interplanetary stations on departure trajectories and control them, ensure a soft landing of scientific modules and efficient operation of mobile robots, extract and explore (and, if necessary, return to Earth) soil samples from other planets …
According to analysts, in order to achieve not some political goals, but specific technical ones, one must go consistently. Step by step, as the techies say. Therefore, they believe that the exploration of the moon is possible in three stages.
The first is designed for 2016-2025: it is the launch of the automatic interplanetary stations Luna-25, Luna-26, Luna-27 and Luna-28. They will have to determine the composition and physicochemical properties of the regolith with water ice and other volatile compounds and select an area near the lunar South Pole for deploying a test site and a lunar base.
The second stage - 2028-2030, manned expeditions into the orbit of the Moon without landing on its surface.
Well, the third, in 2030-2040, is the visit by the cosmonauts of the selected area and the deployment of the first elements of infrastructure. In particular, it is proposed to start building elements of the lunar astronomical observatory, as well as objects for monitoring the Earth.
It is possible that the landing site of the probe, which is planned to be launched in 2019, may become a place for the deployment of a future Russian base on the Moon. “We are actually choosing the landing area at the South Pole not for one project, but taking into account its continuation and development,” experts say. They are convinced that it is in this place that the placement of the astronomical observatory is much more attractive, because the center of the Galaxy is visible from the South Pole - in the constellation Sagittarius.
It is said that the world's first detailed design of a lunar base was developed by Soviet designers in 1964-1974. That program provided for the launch of the main module of the lunar base on the moon in an unmanned mode. After that, several automatic devices would go there.
Inhabited modules could be installed on wheeled chassis, coupled to each other and form a whole mobile train powered by electricity generated by a nuclear reactor. The work was planned on a rotational basis - six months for each team of 12 people. The settlement of the lunar town was scheduled for the end of the 80s …
And in one of the American projects, the lunar base looked something like this: cylindrical containers with a diameter of 3 m and a length of 6 m are laid in a ditch 3.5 m deep, connected by airtight vestibules and covered with lunar soil. This is for better thermal insulation and protection from meteor impacts. The base was to be powered by two nuclear reactors.
How do modern engineers and designers see lunar bases? Time will show. But already now we can say with a great deal of confidence: it will not do without 3D printing, which already works literally miracles on Earth. For example, a 3D printer has already been created, which can literally build, that is, print a whole house in 24 hours. According to engineers, space soil itself will become the material for printing on the Moon. This means that with the help of light robotic systems, it will be possible to build a base right on the spot.
Residential buildings can be a combination of inflatable modules delivered from the ground and a "printed" external rigid frame. They must protect the colonists from falling small meteorites, dangerous gamma rays and huge temperature swings.
However, it is still very far from construction as such. Today, the designers are faced with the most important task - the creation of a super-heavy-class launch vehicle and a promising manned spacecraft, without which the most exciting flight plans to the Moon and Mars will remain on paper.
Let's say the Moon needs a rocket with a carrying capacity of up to 80 tons. Intensive studies of possible options for super-heavy carriers are being carried out not only in Russia, but also in the USA, China, India, and Europe. One of the most difficult and critical is the choice of the parameters of the missiles used in manned programs. Including for flights with astronauts landing on the lunar surface.
Meanwhile
The prolonged presence of man on the moon will require a solution to the most serious problems. First of all, radiation and meteorite protection. Lunar dust is a separate line, which consists of sharp particles (since there is no smoothing effect of erosion), and also has an electrostatic charge. As a result, it penetrates everywhere and, having an abrasive effect, reduces the life of the mechanisms. And getting into the lungs, it becomes a threat to human health.
