Russia Plans 2030 Moon Walk, Hopes To Revive Program

Leaked Russian space agency documents on Wednesday revealed that it plans to send its first astronauts to walk on the moon by 2030.

In the documents Russian space officials note that a spacecraft will:

“Conduct a demonstrative manned circumlunar test flight with the subsequent landing of cosmonauts on [the Moon’s] surface and their return to Earth.”

This isn’t the first time moon walk discussions have arisen in Moscow however it’s the first known deadline given to a manned lunar mission.

Plans to put Russians on the moon signal the first real advances the agency will have made involving space travel since winning the first round of the space race when it launched the first man into orbit around Earth’s atmosphere.

When the United States landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 with Nasa’s Apollo 11 the Soviet Union quickly disbanded its lunar programs.

News of the potential moon landing comes less than one year after several high profile Russian satellites crashed and then in January the Mars probe Fobos Grunt fell to earth.

In the meantime the post-Soviet era has led to international cooperation by the Russian space agency. Russian scientists have worked with the United States and other countries on the construction and maintenance of Mir and the International Space Station (ISS). Currently Russia sends all needed supplies to the ISS via the countries Soyuz capsules.

While Russian has set a moon based mission for itself President Obama has said the United States would like to send astronauts to Mars by the 2030s after robotic missions to the planet witnessed funding cuts in February 2011.

Do you think the Russian space agency can revive its space program by sending a man to the moon 18 years from now?