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Last week, the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos announced ambitious plans to establish a long-term base on the Moon, the country wishing to land on the surface of the Moon over the next two decades.
Now, Dimitry Rogozin, director of Roscosmos, said that the base would be run by a technology system that would have looked like it was straight out of a sci-fi movie. According to Rogozin, the system will involve humans on Earth using robot avatars that will perform tasks on the surface of the moon.
"We are talking about creating a long-term base, not constantly busy, but visitable," Rogozin told the official RIA Novosti news agency.
He added that the project would be larger than the American Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the moon in the '60s and early' 70s during a series of missions, reported RT.
Although Rogozin did not reveal the exact functioning of the robotic system, the plans recall James Cameron's "Avatar" which was set in Pandora, a lush moon of a gaseous giant star system. Alpha Centauri populated a humanoid race known as Na'vi.
To explore Pandora, the film's scientists use Na'vi-human hybrids called "avatars", exploited remotely.
Russia wants to land a cosmonaut on the lunar surface by 2030, but Rogozin did not specify how long it would take between the start of manned flights to the moon and the creation of a full-fledged base.
Rogozin, however, revealed some other ideas. He told RIA Novosti that Roscosmos would explore the possibility of using lunar soil as a resource that can be used to 3D-print new parts and repair equipment, eliminating the need for costly replenishments of the Earth.
Roscosmos presented a plan in several stages for the landing of cosmonauts on the moon. The final step is to use local resources to build the infrastructure of a lunar base.
But before the inhabited lunar landing, the Russian space agency will carry out a series of missions preparing the return of humans on the lunar surface.
One of these missions, called Luna 27, is being developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). The goal will be to send a lander to an unexplored area of the South Pole of the Moon.
NASA also has its views on the moon. The US Space Agency is developing a plan for Americans to gravitate around the moon starting in 2023 and land the astronauts on the surface by the end of the 2020s.
According to NASA, the Gateway, a lunar-orbiting platform designed to accommodate astronauts more distant than ever from the Earth, is a key element of the first permanent US presence and infrastructure on and around the moon. This will be developed in collaboration with Roscosmos, alongside ESA as well as Japanese and Canadian space agencies.
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