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Russian space agencies team up with business to conquer Mars

Posted on: Friday, 9 April 2004, 06:00 CDT

Text of report by Russian external TV service NTV Mir on 9 April

[Presenter] Space exploration might become a new national idea: Russia once again wants to catch up and overtake America. This time, in just one sphere - the conquest of Mars. Heads of Russian space agencies declare that our country has the means to become the first to send a citizen to the Red Planet. The technical details of the project look like the chapters of a science fiction book. Roman Sobol has further details.

[Correspondent] "Mars will be ours, Russians can become first to land on the Red Planet". Such statements have been made today by representatives of several Russian space agencies. The main thing is that the Mars expedition would be a 100 per cent commercial venture, using not a single budget rouble. A group of enthusiastic businessmen proposed their own space project. The prospect looked so tempting that some very serious scientists became excited by the idea and, at the risk of putting their own reputations at stake, supported this truly fantastic business plan.

[Georgiy Uspenskiy, captioned as head of department for space systems design of the Central Research Institute for Machine Building, speaking at a news conference at Interfax agency] We consider it very progressive on the part of the private sector to invest in a gigantic project such as a flight to Mars.

[Oleg Aleksandrov, captioned as director of a commercial aerospace enterprise, same venue] A project has already been drawn up, which is already at the preparation stage and on the way to its implementation.

[Correspondent] The talking was then continued by specialists. They described the future expedition thus: a spacecraft will be using the sections already tested and tried at the ISS. They will be put together in orbit, as some sort of gigantic Lego pieces. At the centre of the construction will be two inflatable modules with living space for a crew. The Americans already have them. Also envisaged are a biological-cycle greenhouse module, an artificial gravity system and protection shields for harmful rays and meteorites. The total cost of the project is dozens of times lower than the costs of similar American or European ones. It seems, 5bn dollars or so would be enough to launch a spacecraft to Mars 20 years ahead of the competitors. Sometime in 2010.

[Uspenskiy] We have asked whether this would be a philanthropic or a business proposition. They said they saw the business plan and found it to have a good business potential.

[Correspondent] Business people expect to get a return on their investment by organizing a reality TV show of cosmic proportions - a kind of wonderland in space. Television cameras will follow the daily life of the space crew and this TV serial, which would last for several years, will be broadcast in real-time regime. Quite predictably, it should attract large audiences. The crew will be mixed, containing men and women. The organizers believe this would add a certain piquancy to an otherwise serious scientific expedition.

The crew would spend a month on Mars, travelling 1,000 km along its terrain. Once again, already tested equipment will be used. The Mars vehicle design resembles that of a Soviet mobile ballistic missile. The sponsors admit that they are ready to risk their money even though they know little about space research. The project is controversial, indeed. The scientists who took part in today's press conference were saying it offered a very interesting alternative to already existing programmes. If businessmen help to conquer Mars, the scientific community will not forget them.

On the other hand, the eagerness with which our aerospace agencies were prepared to accept commercial propositions reflected the state of affairs in the funding of Russia's official space programmes.

[Video shows computer-generated images of the proposed space craft and a Mars roving vehicle]

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