MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/: Russian scientists have proposed that Russia should start building astrophysical observatories on the Moon in the late 2020s and the early 2030s, Scientific Head of the Space Research Institute within Russia’s Academy of Sciences Lev Zelyony told TASS on Thursday.
"We are talking about quite a distant perspective of the late 2020s and the early 2030s. The Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow University and other organizations have suggested that work on such astrophysical installations should become a major task during the Moon’s exploration," the scientist noted.
Initial plans envisage building two observatories in the Moon’s polar region: one for radio-astronomical studies and the other for the study of cosmic rays. In the future, their number may be increased. Scientific equipment will be delivered by a super-heavy carrier rocket.
Robots will be the first to start building observatories, the scientist noted.
"Naturally, they should be initially built by robots: it is difficult for humans to work on the Moon for long. But the fine-tuning and calibration should be done by humans during manned flights," the scientist said.
The proposals on creating such observatories are part of a lunar program concept, which Russia is developing. CEO of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin earlier said that the federal agency expects to have the concept approved by the government by mid-2019.
Russian cosmonauts are expected to land on the Moon after 2030 while the construction of a full-fledged habitable base is set to be finished after 2035.
