MOONBASE GALAKTIKA, 1969

Moon bases had been part of Soviet thinking for some time. For Glushko, a moon base had a number of attractions. With Apollo over and the shuttle in development, there was no prospect now of the Americans establishing a moon base. By contrast, the world might be impressed by a permanent Soviet settlement on the moon. What would it have looked like?

A considerable amount of homework had already been done on moon bases. Design for a Soviet lunar base dated to the Galaktika project, approved by the government in November 1967. This mandated the study of the issues associated with lunar and planetary settlements [2]. The work was done not by one of the normal space design bodies but instead by the bureau associated with the construction of the cosmodromes, Vladimir Barmin’s KBOM. Work began in March 1968. Within the broader Galaktika programme, whose broad remit was the solar system as a whole, KBOM designed a full lunar base called Kolumb, or Columbus, constructed a full – scale habitation model and built a number of scale models, making its report as

Principles of the construction of long-term functioning lunar settlements in late 1969. KBOM designed a moon base for between four and twelve cosmonauts, working on the lunar surface for up to a year at a time. Up to nine modules might be delivered, telescoping out in length after their arrival. The study calculated that establishment of a moon base required the delivery, to the lunar surface, of about 52 tonnes of modules and equipment. Its key elements were:

• Pressurized habitation modules, buried under the regolith for protection from radiation, including a control centre.

• Construction equipment.

• Power supply centre, which could be solar, chemical or nuclear.

• Greenhouse to enrich oxygen, provide food and offer recreation.

• Logistics facilities for oxygen, water, waste disposal.

• Astronomy laboratory.

• Lunar rover, able to carry three cosmonauts across the lunar surface for up to three days to a distance of 250 km.

• Equipment for lunar exploration, such as drills and laboratory devices to examine rocks.

The western edge of the Ocean of Storms, already selected as the prime Soviet manned landing site, was nominated as the best possible location. Barmin was thanked for his work, for which he was paid 50m roubles, but cautioned that it was unlikely to be accomplished until the next century. The existence of this project was not eventually revealed until November 1987, when details were given on the Serbo-Croat and standard Chinese service of Radio Moscow’s overseas service.