MOSCOW (Interfax) - Russian scientists are conducting active research into the potential for a manned mission to Mars.
In one option, a spaceship will carry both a crew and a cargo to the planet. In another, one spaceship will be manned and carry only the crew and the other will carry the cargo, Anatoly Grigoryev, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and director of the Institute of Medico-Biological Sciences, said in a Vek newspaper interview published on Friday.
In the former case the expedition could take as long as two years, because to accelerate to the required velocity the spaceship will have to stay in a terrestrial orbit for nearly two months; in the latter case a heavier spaceship can be used and the expedition will be shorter, 18 months, he said.
"In various scenarios the weight of the manned craft varies from 500 to 1,000 tonnes, Grigoryev said.
The radiation shield, made of special alloys, will account for much of the weight, he said.
"No rocket is capable of launching that weight. The spaceship will be assembled of modules in [earth] orbit," Grigoryev said. Russian Proton rockets can launch payloads of 100 tonnes, he said.
The cost of a Mars mission may total around $100 billion, so countries should join their efforts to make the mission possible, Grigoryev said.
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