The Moon as the seventh continent: Academician Zeleny about resources and development of the Earth’s satellite

From a scientific and practical point of view, the Moon can be considered as the seventh continent of the Earth. This opinion was expressed by the head of the Russian lunar program and the scientific director of the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Lev Zeleny, he was quoted by TASS.

According to him, scientists and diplomats have been studying this issue for a long time, so such a comparison cannot be considered a joke. Zeleny noted that the Earth’s natural satellite still remains insufficiently studied and practically undeveloped. At the same time, getting to it is still more difficult than getting to Antarctica. However, he said, “things are changing very quickly.”

The Moon, as Zeleny claims, has significant resources. In particular, we are talking about possible reserves of water ice in the northern and southern subpolar regions. It can be used not only to explore the Moon itself, but also for flights to more distant objects in the Solar System.

“Because the constituents of water, hydrogen and oxygen, are one of the best paired components of rocket fuel,” the scientist concluded.