Russia wants to build a moon base with China

That's according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who met with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday. Afterwards, Rogozin, who heads up the country's aerospace program, told reporters:

A moon base is reportedly a pet project of Rogozin, who, in an interview last year, said it could be used as a launch pad for future space exploration. He also said that the moon's natural resources are ripe for mining. (They're probably not, as Max Fischer at Vox explains.)

Back in 2012, Russian space agency Roscosmos was reportedly in talks with NASA about building a lunar base, much as the two agencies co-run the International Space Station. With the agencies' relationship deteriorating in parallel with the Kremlin and the White House's, it's not that surprising that Russia would turn to China, which has ambitious space plans of its own and has been willing to extend a hand to Russian President Vladimir Putin's increasingly isolated regime.

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In other news, Russia lost control of an unmanned spacecraft meant for the International Space Station — which is roughly 240,000 miles away from the moon — on Tuesday.