Russia, US and Europe To Build Orbital Lunar Colony

Representatives from NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are currently discussing the prospect of establishing manned research stations around the Moon. These facilities would operate continuously, requiring permanent crews.

What this means is that we may be witnessing the first coordinated, international effort to build permanent structures in the orbit of Earth's natural satellite. Humanity may be well on its way towards settling the Moon. These announcements were all made by Russian news reports.

The Ria Novosti news agency claimed yesterday, January 19, to have it on good authority that the three space agencies are currently considering their best choice of options in constructing these space station.

RosCosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin believes that past studies proved beyond a reasonable doubt that human astronauts can survive for prolonged periods of time both on and around the Moon, in spite of the reduced gravity.

Russia already has ambitious space plans concerning the Moon. By 2020, it plans to send the Luna-Glob and Luna-Resource robotic spacecraft to the lunar surface, in order to conduct in-depth exploration of the conditions on the ground.

ESA also has great plans for exploring the Moon. It plans to launch a robotic lander to the lunar surface by 2017. Officials say that all these missions could be made a part of a much larger endeavor, one that would include the most important actors in space exploration today.

“Today, we know enough about [the Moon], we know that there is water in its polar areas. We are now discussing how to begin [the Moon’s] exploration with NASA and the European Space Agency,” Popovkin told the Vesti FM radio station on January 19.

What the official referred to as a “prospective manned transportation system” is already being analyzed and investigated by Russian experts. Officials say that NASA, ESA, and a number of smaller space agencies as well, have already expressed their interest in this initiative.

NASA, ESA and RosCosmos have been working closely together for the past 11 years, on building the $100 billion International Space Station (ISS). The facility now stands as a testament as to what can be accomplished through international cooperation, Space reports.