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Roscosmos boss Borissov (center) with head of state Vladimir Putin

Photo: Getty Images

The moon is a place of extremes.

At the equator the temperature can rise to 120 degrees Celsius in sunshine.

On moonlit nights, however, the thermometer sometimes drops to minus 130 degrees in the same place.

In some areas of the polar regions, temperatures as low as minus 250 degrees are reached - water ice may have persisted there to this day, which is interesting for astronauts.

The USA and its partners are currently interested in building a research station on the moon.

China and Russia also want to jointly establish a permanent presence on the moon.

How these outposts can be supplied with energy during the long moonlit night is one of the important questions in the preparation.

It would be difficult with solar cells alone because the energy would have to be stored in large, heavy batteries for up to 14 days.

The head of the Roscosmos space agency, Yuri Borisov, has now explained during a round of discussions with young people that his country, together with the Chinese, is also considering building a nuclear reactor to supply the station.

This could happen sometime between 2030 and 2035.

The mini nuclear power plant should work automatically.

The technical requirements are almost fulfilled.

China wants to land on the moon before 2030

Nuclear power on the moon, this suggestion is not unreasonable.

In any case, the move has nothing to do with the recent warnings from US security circles that Russia could station a nuclear weapon in Earth orbit.

In Moscow, such reports have always been denied.

NASA has also been developing reactor designs for the moon for years.

However, that does not mean that Russia will implement the ideas presented by Borissov for a nuclear power plant on the moon.

It is well known that China has planned to land on the moon before 2030.

What role Russia will actually play in the planned International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) remains unclear.

The once proud spacefaring nation hasn't achieved much in recent years.

The workhorses of the Russian space program are still functioning: the Soyuz rocket and capsule for transporting astronauts and the unmanned Progress transporters enable the presence of cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS).

But beyond that, there is hardly anything forward-looking: the new Angara rocket has only completed a few flights, the Orel spacecraft will take many years to complete, and the plans for an ISS successor only exist on paper.

During his appearance, Borissov also spoke about building a nuclear-powered spaceship.

Among other things, this should transport large loads from one orbit to another or collect space debris.

The reality is a little less exciting: In the past 47 years, Russia has flown to the moon unmanned exactly once.

The “Luna-25” mission ended last year with a crash.

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