The time, when humans will fly to Mars and land on the mysterious red planet, is drawing near. Russia and the USA are the two countries that traditionally compete in the filed of space exploration. Russia’s approach to the goal consists of three aspects. Russia plans to use its rich experience of manned flights – the development, assemblage and exploitation of space complexes. Scientists also plan to develop breaking technologies for this purpose and make the project feasible under problematic conditions of the Russian economy.
Russia to Built New Orbital Platform
Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov said at the International Space Congress in Vancouver that according to Russia’s federal space program for 2006-2015, Russia is going to develop a new orbital basic platform available for cosmonauts.
Russians differ on Mars exploration
According to the majority of Russians (51%), Russia should participate in the space expedition to Mars. Twenty-four percent of the pollees believe that such an expedition will contribute to space exploration. At the same time, 27% of respondents say that this is necessary but only with other countries. Sociologists note that young people aged 18-24 were inclined to answer positively and said that this was necessary for further exploration of space.” On the contrary, the older generation was more practical in this issue. They more often said that we should first solve problems here, on the Earth. People aged 25-34 were the most numerous group, which favoured international space exploration.
$5 billion Mars mission of Russian oligarchs
A privately owned Russian company presented a draft of a Mars mission on Friday. The project is designed for a team of six astronauts and is scheduled for 2009. The spaceship is going to be equipped with video cameras which will broadcast everything live. The information has been reported by one of the members of the project, Director of Department of Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Georgy Uspensky at a press-conference in Moscow.
Boriska-boy from Mars
I was told the story of an unusual boy named Boriska from members of an expedition to the anomaly zone located in the north of the Volgograd region, most commonly referred to as “Medvedetskaya gryada”. “Can you imagine, while everyone was sitting around the campfire at night, some little boy (about 7 years of age) suddenly asked everyone’s attention. Turned out, he wanted to tell them all about life on Mars, about its inhabitants and their flights to earth,” shares one of the witnesses.
Ideas of Russian Mars-96 design used in European Mars-express project
The ideas in the design of the Russian Mars-96 space vehicle, lost in 1996 on its way to orbit, were used in the European Mars-Express project, said Vasily Moroz, department chief at the Space Research Institute and one of the Mars-96 designers, at a press conference in Moscow on Monday.
Main requirements for candidates for Mars expedition
The highest professional level, resistance to stress and an inborn high radiation protection will be the main criteria to choose candidates for the Mars expedition, director of the Russian Medical and Biological Problems Institute academician Anatoly Grigoryev told RIA Novosti. He is one of the leaders of the project preparing the piloted expedition to the Mars. “Alongside high requirements to professional skills, physical and psychological health, significant attention will be paid to choosing people with a maximum ability to adjust to extreme pressure and high resistance to stress,” he pointed out.
Will Russians And Americans Fly To Mars Together?
Russian Experts do not doubt that it can really happen. The cost of the Russian Martian project is estimated at 10 billion dollars. In the United States a special commission set up by the White House has started its work. It is to inform President George W. Bush by February 2004 how the Americans are to prepare for manned flights to other planets during the next 20 to 30 years.
Russia Builds Mars Probe
Russian space engineers have begun the construction of a space probe which will be sent to Phobos, one of the Moons surrounding the Planet Mars, in 2007. The engineers, working for the specialist company Lavotchkin, have finished the building of a model in Kaluga, south of Moscow, for a probe which will be sent to Phobos.
Mars Lander To Be Put Together At Baikonur Cosmodrome
Beagle 2, the pioneering Mars lander that is being developed now by the European Space Agency, is to be put together prior to takeoff for the Red Planet at the assembly and testing block at Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Russian Aerospace Agency (Rosaviakosmos) disclosed Tuesday. “Mars-bound Mars Express probe carrying that lander is scheduled to be launched in May/June 2003 with the aid of the Russian Soyuz FG launch vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome,” the space agency clarified. “The probe’s landing on the Red Planet is scheduled for the end of next year,” Rosaviakosmos added.