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Almost one quarter of Russian residents would like to visit Mars — survey

The survey was conducted from April 6 to 7 among 1,600 respondents over the age of 18

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Almost one quarter (24%) of those polled by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center would like to visit Mars.

The survey results were published on the center’s website on Wednesday.

"Out of all planets and stars, Mars interests Russians most of all. Given the choice to visit any planet in our universe as a tourist, every fourth person would have picked Mars (24%). It seems that in the minds of Russians the question of whether there is life on Mars is not closed," its statement said. Every 10th respondent (10%) would like to fly to the Moon.

The popularity of the space industry as a place of employment for children and grandchildren rose by 16 percentage points (63% in 2023 versus 47% in 2020).

More than one-third of those surveyed (37%) think that soon the creation of a permanent inhabited base on the Moon will be possible and the opportunity will arise to mine minerals on other planets in about 50 years. Every tenth person (10%) believes that within fifty years aliens will land on Earth and contact mankind. Additionally, 35% are concerned that space will become an arena for a military confrontation between countries and 10% are worried about the appearance of a giant meteor.

The opinions of Russians as to who should be involved in space exploration in Russia were divided: 55% think that it is in the purview of the government while 41% allow for the involvement of private companies.

The survey was conducted from April 6 to 7 among 1,600 respondents over the age of 18.

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