Russia’s space agency has launched a recruitment drive for aspiring cosmonauts who it hopes will be part of the country’s first space missions to the moon.

Roscosmos is already officially searching for six to eight cosmonauts to board the new-generation Federatsiya spacecraft, currently in development and poised to bring the first Russians to the moon, according to first deputy CEO Aleksandr Ivanov in a news briefing.

Ivanov announced that the selection will last until the end of the year, with the chosen participants to be trained under the International Space Program, reported Russian news agency TASS.

Cosmonaut Selection Process

In this apparent bid to rekindle the Soviet era’s space glory and accomplishments and with plans for the first manned lunar landing by 2031, Russia is eyeing the best specialists to operate its space and air technologies.

Applicants should be no older than age 35; standing 4 feet and 11 inches to 6 ft. and 2 in.; weighing no more than 198 pounds; and have IT skills, foreign language know-how, and engineering degree or pilot training in the aviation or space industries. They will undergo intensive selection ranging from mental aptitude and physical fitness tests to medical and psychological examinations.

“There will be no discrimination based on skin color or gender,” said Sergei Krikalyov, executive director of manned programs.

Applications are welcome for the next four months, after which candidate tests will begin.

Russia currently has 30 cosmonauts, and 14 of them have not been to space.

Lunar Missions

Other countries are part of the race to reach and land on the moon.

NASA is still actively eyeing a manned moon mission in 2021, as outlined in the recently passed NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 that grants $19.5 billion to the agency for future space explorations. The only thing needed to make the bill official is President Donald Trump's signature.

The bill’s passage is deemed “a clear message” to the American public and its international partners of the nation’s commitment to space exploration. Add this to NASA’s partnership with private firms such as SpaceX and Blue Origin to start deep exploration on Earth’s only satellite.

Trump has not openly spoken about NASA’s planned moon mission, but people close to the White House as well as former NASA officials are seeing interest from the president’s office to return to the moon.

The Space Constellation Program, conceived during the time of former President George W. Bush, pushed for America’s return to the moon after the Apollo mission in 1960s and 1970s. However, the program was canceled by his predecessor Obama, who considered the plan too expensive and repetitive.

Even China is serious in its goals for a manned lunar landing. It is currently developing a progressive new spacecraft expected to operate well in lower Earth orbit and on the moon.

The spacecraft in the works will reportedly be recoverable and at a much better capacity than its foreign counterparts. It will also contain rooms for several astronauts, according to chief manned spacecraft designer Zhang Bainan of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Cooperation.

Right now only the Orion spacecraft, developed in tandem by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), is geared for a moon landing.