MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Financing of Russia’s new lunar program, which is aimed at building a station on the Moon, will start in 2025, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Krasnikov said.
"As for the lunar program, it includes seven lunar missions with various scientific tasks. <...> This is a large and very responsible program and, of course, a serious challenge for our academic institutions. Financing of this program will start already this year," he said at a general meeting of the Academy.
At the first stage, research is suggested to be carried out with the help of automatic flights, Krasnikov said, adding that exploration of the Moon's poles where the largest ice clusters have been found, and collection of soil for analysis lie ahead. Later moon research vehicles will be sent there for terrain analysis and preparation for placement of the future lunar station.