#5
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
No. 136
July 2002
[translation from RIA Novosti for personal use only]
RUSSIA REACHING FOR THE RED PLANET
By Vladimir POKROVSKY

The chiefs of various R&D institutes, companies and departments, which are involved in the Russian space program, announced what seems to be the most ambitious project in the history of our space program the other day. To cut a long story short, Russia intends to land three cosmonauts on Mars somewhere over the 2014-2015 period. By the way, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced a similar project not so long ago with participation of US astronauts. The European Space Agency (ESA) also voiced similar intentions. However, no one had expected the cash-strapped Russian space industry to make such a loud-mouthed statement.

Nikolai Anfimov, who heads the CNIIMASH R&D institute, and who is also a full-time member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that the Russian Mars-mission scenario is better than any other similar document; at any rate, it's more popular than the rest. The entire Mars mission will apparently last about 440 days; incidentally, Russian cosmonauts used to fly similar record-breaking missions aboard their orbital stations.

Three cosmonauts will spend 30-60 days on the Red Planet, with another three waiting for them in orbit. The entire crew will comprise a mission commander, a co-pilot, a flight engineer, a doctor and two researchers. Two spacecraft, i.e. a manned space-ship and a cargo ship, will streak toward Mars.

This project will require an estimated $20 billion. Unfortunately, Russia is unable to foot the bill all on its own; that's why a joint six-man flight is envisaged. Vitaly Semenov in charge of the Russian Mars program noted that preliminary talks were now being conducted with NASA and the ESA. In fact, both agencies are interested in the project. The concerned parties would take part in this project on a parity basis, if such talks prove successful. Consequently, the Russian side would have to contribute about 33 percent of the grand total, i.e. nearly $6.5 billion. Still one has some misgivings about any possible cooperation with the United States just because Washington doesn't like to share its successes with anyone else.

Nonetheless, both agencies are saying cautiously that they are interested in the Russian proposal.

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