The Moon and Mars were recently announced as the next "big target" by NASA and Roscosmos. Is humanity ready to master them? These questions are answered by cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and his colleagues from the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
International Lunapark with shuttle
The first rumors about the possibility of creating a "sister ISS" in a lunar orbit appeared in the fall of 2016 after a closed meeting of the International Spacecraft Development Group (ISCWG).
In September 2017, representatives of Roscosmos and NASA officially confirmed these plans and signed a memorandum of cooperation in the construction of the LOP-G lunar station, according to which Russia must design its airlock module.
The construction of the station was expected to begin in the mid-2020s. Next was to discuss the development of lunar shuttles and other systems needed to deliver people and robots to the lunar surface. The possibility of creating a permanently inhabited lunar base was not excluded.
However, the negotiations that had begun, as sources told RIA Novosti, reached an impasse: the Russian side was not satisfied with its role in this project, which Dmitry Rogozin announced in September 2018.
Some of the disagreements, according to the assurances of the heads of Roscosmos and NASA, were settled in October last year, when Jim Bridenstein, the new director of the American space agency, first flew to Moscow and Baikonur.
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Then he stressed that the construction of LOP-G would be impossible without the help of Roscosmos and other international partners. Moreover, he promised that the standards on the basis of which the station will be created will remain open, and everyone can participate in their development.
Among them is the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, one of the world's leading medical centers specializing in the training of cosmonauts and the study of living conditions in space and on other planets.
The program, which is now being prepared by scientists and representatives of Roscosmos, should become one of the main driving factors in the development of the Russian space industry.
Equally important, this project will enthrall other industries and, as the head of the institute noted, will become "a locomotive of development for the entire country." In the near future, the document being developed will be sent for consideration to the government.
According to the director of the IBMP, the main task is not just to repeat what the American astronauts have done in the framework of the Apollo program, but to start gradually mastering the Moon, using new scientific discoveries and technological resources. Ultimately, it is about creating a launch pad for deep space flights.
Road to the moon
To realize all these ambitions, it is necessary not only to build new types of launch vehicles capable of putting elements of a future lunar base into orbit, but also to understand how life outside the Earth's radiation shield will affect the health of the LOP-G crew.
In particular, recent experiments by Russian and foreign scientists have shown that cosmic rays and other forms of radiation not only increase the likelihood of developing cancer, but can also change the behavior of animals and humans, causing severe brain damage.
In addition, it is not yet fully understood how solar flares will affect the lives of the inhabitants of the lunar station, not protected by the Earth's magnetic field. Similar questions arise about changes in the functioning of the brain, the immune system, and the activity of pathogens under conditions of prolonged stay in open space and weightlessness.
Russian researchers and their foreign partners have already received some answers to these questions, or will receive them in the near future within the framework of experiments on the Bion-M and Bion-M2 biosatellites. As Orlov emphasized, the scientific program of the second apparatus, which is scheduled to launch in 2022 or 2023, was drawn up with an eye to interplanetary missions.
According to him, Russian specialists preparing for the launch of the Bion-M2 are simultaneously developing a scientific program for the Vozvrat-MKA probe. On board two dozen mice will go on a long flight, comparable to a trip to the moon. The launch of the spacecraft is scheduled for the second half of the 1920s, unless funding for space programs is cut.
In addition to experiments in open space, radiation experiments on mice and other animals are carried out by specialists from the Institute of International Biological Problems and on Earth in cooperation with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Dubna. Recently, representatives of NASA and the American scientific community proposed to join forces and create joint programs in this area.
All of these experiments, Kotov explained, are critical for both NASA and Roscosmos for one simple reason: they will help scientists formulate technical criteria for building station components that can protect its crew from radiation.
According to him, IBMP is already participating in the development of standards that will be used in LOP-G life support systems. As Kotov admitted, not everything goes smoothly due to differences in technical approaches, but this did not prevent the adoption of several criteria at once quickly enough.
Academician Orlov adds: it is not yet clear which route the cosmonauts and astronauts will take to the lunar stations and bases. The radiation load can differ tens and even hundreds of times for different trajectories of motion due to the action of radiation belts, heavy ion fluxes and flares on the Sun.
Scientists plan to make accurate measurements during flights to the moon of the first ships in automatic mode. One of the devices - "Federation" - can become a kind of biological laboratory with a "crew" of mice and other animals.
All these experiments, biologists hope, should be completed by 2030, when, presumably, the first flight of the Russian cosmonaut to the Moon will take place. However, the research will not end there - the implementation of plans for the construction of lunar bases and flights to Mars will require new, even larger experiments.
Some of them are planned for the near future. For example, scientists are considering the possibility of partial isolation of the ISS crew - this will make it possible to simulate a flight to Mars and other deep space objects, test autonomous life support systems and reveal the psychological aspects of such travel.
Lunar gardens
Lunar dust is of particular interest to Russian researchers, as Vladimir Sychev noted. According to him, it is not yet clear how toxic it is, whether it can be used as soil for growing terrestrial plants and whether it will somehow affect the safety of the fruits obtained.
Oleg Kotov added that this question is speculative: neither Russia nor the United States is planning to break the "lunar gardens" yet. According to him, at the first stages of the exploration of the Moon, bioregenerative systems will not be created - priority will be given to life support and nutrition systems.
For such experiments, the improved Lada greenhouse, which was supposed to go to the ISS in December 2016, would be suitable. She died in the crash of the Progress ship, and scientists decided not to restore it.
Vladimir Sychev believes that the construction of a greenhouse at a lunar station or base is quite within the power of mankind. This item is present in the US plans to create LOP-G and subsequent lunar projects. Another thing is that such ideas are associated more with a flight to Mars than with the creation of a lunar station, where people will live sporadically.
According to cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, Russian scientists are currently negotiating with NASA to conduct joint experiments at the Veggie greenhouse installed in the US segment of the ISS.
Joint experiments will help answer another important question: how do terrestrial organisms tolerate lunar or Martian gravity. Neither on Earth nor in space, Kotov stressed, there are no suitable conditions, while on the ISS it is enough to install a centrifuge for this.
According to him, IMPB and the Cosmonaut Training Center plan to take measurements during parabolic flights, when weightlessness or conditions close to lunar and Martian occurs inside the aircraft at certain times.
Will a new "moon race" start in the future? Oleg Kotov is sure that projects will be implemented only within the framework of international programs - neither Russia, nor the United States, nor the European Union or China can solve these problems on their own.
At best, in his opinion, national programs can only repeat what the Apollo has done. Therefore, it is better to join forces in the creation of LOP-G and fit this project into the Russian program for the exploration of the Moon.