Russia plans Moon base, Mars network by 2030

March 16, 2012 | Source: Wired Science
mars-gale-crater-nasa

Mars (Credit: NASA)

Russia plans to send probes to Jupiter and Venus, land a network of unmanned stations on Mars and ferry Russian cosmonauts to the surface of the Moon — all by 2030, according to a leaked document from the country’s space agency.

By 2020, the six-seater Angara rocket will replace the Soyuz as the spaceship of choice for launching Russian payloads.

By 2030, Russia will send robots to the Moon to collect samples. The program will be punctuated with a manned Moon landing.

The optimistic program also lays out plans for active exploration of other planets in the solar system, and ideas for a follow-up to the International Space Station after 2020.