The Russian Space Agency presents an ambitious initiative: placing a crew of 6 on Mars by 2015 - in an international partnership; The cost: about 20 billion dollars; NASA: We have not yet received an official offer from the Russians
By: Walla system!
The Russian space agency offers a new and ambitious mission - sending a manned spacecraft to the planet Mars by the year 2015 - so the "Washington Post" publishes. The Russian space agency hopes to carry out the mission with the close assistance of their American colleagues at NASA.
According to the plan, two spacecraft will be assembled that will be able to transport a team of six space pilots to the Red Planet, allow them to stay on it for two months and, of course, return them safely to Earth. Nikolai Anfimov, head of the Central Institute for Machine Research in Russia, estimated that the ambitious project would cost about 20 billion dollars and suggested that his country would contribute about a third of the expenses. "This must be an international project," said the head of the Russian Mars project, Vitaly Semyonov, "no one can handle this task alone."
According to officials at the Russian space agency, they recognize encouraging signs of interest from the American and European space agencies. A NASA spokeswoman, however, said yesterday that the Russians have not submitted any official plan and therefore the American space agency is delaying publishing its response to the proposal. NASA is pessimistic about a possible "visit" to Mars due to spending cuts imposed on them by Congress.
The European Space Agency explained that "we are still very far (from Mars)". Alain Fournier-Sikker, who heads the European Agency in Russia, explained that "a program like this is a long-term mission for any space agency in the world."
Landing cosmonauts on Mars has been a long-standing dream of the Russian space agency, and during the occupation of space, attempts to realize it failed. The many failures of missions to Mars made Russian scientists believe that there is a "Mars curse". In 1960, Russia sent two unmanned spacecraft to Mars, but both exploded before leaving the atmosphere.
The bad luck continued in '96 when the Russians tried to send another spacecraft to the Red Planet, at a cost of about 300 million dollars. The spacecraft was diagnosed with an engine failure and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Mars conquest missions initiated by the American space agency also encountered many technical difficulties.
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