MOSCOW -- Russia may have a base on the moon by 2025, according to a Russian space official, the Interfax news agency reported Monday.
Nikolai Moiseyev, deputy chief of the Russian Space Agency for the International Space Station, made the prediction at a NASA conference in Washington, D.C.
"Moiseyev told the conference that the task may be put forward in 2020-2025 to set up an automatic lunar base. Closer to the middle of the century, such a base may also appear on Mars," the agency's press service told Interfax Monday.
Moiseyev informed space officials from other countries about Russia's International Space Station program, which includes advanced studies aimed at the exploration of the solar system and the use of automated spacecraft.
In particular, he mentioned the Luna-Globe project for studying the internal structure of the moon, delivering samples of moon rock to earth, and the use of moon resources.
