Russia plans to land humans on Mars, NASA and the European Space Agency are interested in a new Russian project
The people of the Russian space agency recently announced a new project, the goal of which is to send humans to Mars for the first time by 2015. According to the plan, the mission will be carried out by six astronauts and will last about 440 days. Two spacecraft will participate in the mission: one manned by crew members, and a second one that will carry the cargo. Anatoly Grigoriev, director of the Institute of Medical-Biological Problems that works with all Russian cosmonauts, announced that three astronauts will land before Mars while the other three will remain in the spacecraft that will attack the planet.
Russia said it would finance 30% of the cost of the program, which is estimated at about 20 billion dollars. However, according to the heads of the Russian agency, due to its high cost, the realization of the project will require international cooperation. Initial talks about the program have already been held with possible international partners. Representatives of the Russian Space Agency said that they are receiving encouraging signs of interest from NASA and the European Space Agency.
NASA spokeswoman Delores Beasley said the Russians have yet to submit an official plan - a necessary step before making a decision on the matter. Alain Fournier-Sikker, who heads the permanent staff of the European Space Agency in Russia, announced that he had indeed discussed the project with the Russians. "We are still very far away," said Fournier-Siker, "but a program of this type is a long-term step, which concerns every space agency in the world."
Last month, NASA said that the American government is doing everything necessary to send humans to Mars at some point. In early 2002, NASA's "Mars Odyssey" spacecraft entered orbit around Mars and began mapping the chemical and mineral composition of the planet's surface. As part of the mapping, the spacecraft discovered water on the planet's surface, which increased interest in it and increased the motivation to send manned missions to it.
The first attempt to reach Mars took place in 1960 by the Russians. To date, 31 spacecraft have been launched to Mars - 16 Russian, 14 American and one Japanese. Quite a few of them failed in their mission.
Russian scientists have been dreaming of landing humans on Mars for a long time. However, even in the heyday of the Soviet space program, attempts to reach the Red Planet ended in failure, and some began to talk about the "curse of Mars".
The last time Russia tried to send a spacecraft worth 300 million dollars to Mars was in 1996, hoping to prove that it is still a power in the field of space exploration, even after the breakup of the Soviet Union. But the spacecraft suffered engine failure after launch, and crashed in the Pacific Ocean.
