Now Russia is gearing up to plant its permanent base in the moon.

Roscosmos, the country’s space agency, announced in a press briefing in Moscow that it is targeting the year 2029 for its manned lunar mission.

Last Wednesday, it was reported that six Russian women climbed into a mock spaceship to start an experiment on how an all-female crew would interact on a journey to the moon and back. The volunteers will live in a simulated environment at Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow for eight days to experience space travel.

The Luna 25 Iander is targeted to land near the moon’s south pole Aitken crater, often called the “far side” due to its totally different appearance: unlike other lunar regions, it has constantly dark areas believed to provide “icy prisons” with water and other chemicals as supplies for the mission.

Prior to Luna 25’s takeoff, the nation will send an unmanned mission to the south pole of the moon for investigation, with the rocket believed to be launched in 2021. First docking with the International Space Station (ISS), the mission will proceed to speed away to the lunar south pole.

The European Space Agency is also onboard the mission and plans to work with Russia for the manned lunar mission. The Luna 27 is expected to be the lander for this potential partnership.

Bérengère Houdou, heading the moon exploration team at the European Space Research and Technology Center of ESA, revealed their “ambition to have European astronauts on the moon.”

“There are currently discussions at international level going on,” he confirmed about the much-awaited return of man to the moon.

ESA announced its projected lunar colony with Russia earlier in October, as highlighted by the use of 3D printer to build a structure on lunar soil. The moon’s soil is poised to be the main component in building these “homes.”

Incorporating regolith or lunar soil as the main component of the building will allow ESA, Russia, and other space mission participants to save time and money due to eliminated “space freight.” They would only need to ship the machines for printing the “walls” of the structure.

Russia also expressed interest in being in talks with China in creating a permanent space station to mount future space missions.

The last human to walk on the moon’s surface was Eugene Cernan was decades ago, in 1972.

Part of the objectives of current lunar missions are exploring technologies in setting up colonies on the moon or Mars. One possibility is erecting gas stations that convert lunar water into rocket fuel, or a combination of oxygen and hydrogen.

Photo: Alexey Kljatov | Flickr