MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. The head of the Baikonur city administration has proposed creating an exact replica of a lunar settlement in the city, staffed with specialists, head of the city administration Konstantin Busygin said in an interview with TASS.
"I've long proposed to Roscosmos, it’s kind of a childhood dream, to build in Baikonur an exact replica of, so to speak, a town that could be built on the Moon. To place young specialists there in something like an isolation experiment. That is, to create a lunar commune, but on Earth. This would be a boost for space exploration and, I believe, could increase tourist traffic to the city tenfold. As far as I know, it has already been modified, but at least it exists in the plans, in the blueprints," he said.
Speaking about space tourism, including at Roscosmos facilities, the head of Baikonur noted the need to develop this area. "It could also help train young industry specialists. We, for our part, here in the city, have done everything possible to make the development of space tourism, so to speak, a reality," he emphasized.