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Flight to Moon to cost Russia ten times more than one space mission

A flight to the Moon will cost Russia ten times more than one manned mission in a near-earth orbit, while the costs of one flight to Mars will soar 50 time, says space rocket corporation official

© AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

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Russian scientist says future base on Moon should be nuclear-powered

KOROLYOV /Moscow Region/, May 25. /TASS/. A flight to the Moon will cost Russia ten times more than one manned mission in a near-earth orbit, while the costs of one flight to Mars will soar 50 times, the deputy president of the space rocket corporation Energia Aleksandr Derechin has said.

"Deep space exploration is a very costly affair, ten times more expensive than near-earth missions. Sending one mission to the Moon will be equivalent to launching ten near-earth missions. The costs of a Martian mission will grow by a factor of 50," he told a news conference.

According to the presented slide show delivering a one-kilogram payload to the Moon will spell a ten-fold increase in funding as compared with that required to propel the same cargo into a near-earth orbit, while bringing one-kilogram payload from the Moon will spell a surge in costs by 30-50 times.

Roscosmos hopes to send the first Russian cosmonaut to the Moon by 2030 and the federal space program envisages sending several research problems to the Moon. NASA hopes to arrange for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s.

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