Russia May Become 'Absolute' Leader in Space Exploration

MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The U.S. administration's decision to abandon ambitious space exploration programs, including a manned Lunar mission in 2020, is giving Russia a chance to strengthen its position in manned space flight projects, Yuri Kara, a member of Russia's Tsiolkovsky Cosmonautics Academy, told Interfax-AVN.

"In my opinion, Russia has received an amazing carte blanche in order to take over the 'flag' of the leadership in space exploration from the United States," Kara said.

On Monday, President Barack Obama announced in his 2011 budget request that he would cancel U.S. plans to send humans back to the moon, saying the project was too expensive.

In the next 5-7 years, Russia will be the only country capable of delivering crewmembers to the International Space Station.

But Russia should also start working on a manned mission to Mars, the expert said.

"Today, Russia needs to focus its efforts on the Mars program. The time has come for it to become the absolute space leader," Kara said.

In this case, "other states will join" space exploration projects implemented by Russia, he said.

"I am not speaking about Russia's monopoly on this area. But it [Russia] has been playing a leading role and, consequently, it will be able to determine the configuration of the future Mars mission," he added.

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