Russia plans a permanent base on the Moon By 2020

Russia is planning to mine a rare fuel on the moon by 2020 with a permanent base and a heavy-cargo transport link, a Russian space official said Wednesday.
"We are planning to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery... of the rare isotope Helium-3," Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of the Energia space corporation, was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying at an academic conference.

Helium-3 is a non-radioactive isotope of helium that can be used in nuclear fusion. Rare on earth but plentiful on the moon, it is seen by some experts as an ideal fuel because it is powerful, non-polluting and generates almost no radioactive by-product.

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The Russians might have the technical know how for this, but where is the money for such ambitious futuristic plans ??

Where does the money for our war in Iraq come from?

Russian taxpayers just have to deal with it. Besides, space exploration has only advanced science to it's extreme.

Anyway, more sources on Helium-3 would be good.

Good post Stealth

Originally posted by Stealth SpyThe Russians might have the technical know how for this, but where is the money for such ambitious futuristic plans ??

As if it would cost them much.
Plus everything is dirt cheap in Russia, without compromosing the quality.

As far as I know, Russia has their space program mapped out for the next 2 decades, and the money for it has already been allocated.

Theres already a thread on this board about this subject:

www.abovetopsecret.com...