MOSCOW, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia may embark on the implementation of projects to prepare space flights to the Moon and to Mars after 2015, Vitaly Davydov, the deputy head of the Federal Space Agency, told reporters on Monday. On behalf of the Federal Space Agency, he opened the Fifth International Aerospace Congress here on Monday.
"There is a need for prolonged and detailed working out of the plans for the flights to the Moon and Mars. It is necessary to prepare technological solutions for these programmes. The Federal Space Agency hopes the projects of the flights to the Moon and Mars will be implemented in the framework of the next federal space programme to be embarked on after 2015," he said.
Speaking at the ceremony of opening the congress, Alain Fournier-Sicre, the head of the permanent mission of the European Space Agency, said that over the past 15 years Russia and Europe passed on to partnership in their cooperation in space exploration. "Russia and Europe are strategic partners in the outer space. Europe has supported Russian plans to create a new space transportation system," said the representative of the European Space Agency. He believes the congress may decide on new joint projects. "We are optimistic about the future," he said.
Russian pilot-cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev recalled that the international space station originated from the Mir orbital station, and suggested the congress should work to ensure that the next generation of space stations should come into being.
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