February 2003
News

From Mir to Mars to West Yorkshire

Russian Mir and International Space Station cosmonaut Yuriy Usachev and former Head of Ballistics at Russian Mission Control Dr Alexander Martynov pushed back frontiers when they visited the University to talk about their adventures in space.

Yuriy Usachev and Dr Alexander Martynov delivered a series of free Christmas lectures to around 500 pupils and 250 adults, including business people and students, at the University.

Yuriy and Alexander with one of the space objects shown to the youngsters during the free Christmas lecture given at the University

The 90-minute presentation looked at life on the Mir Space Station and the technology required for a manned mission to the Red Planet. There were also models of spacecraft, videos and space food.

Mr Usachev commanded the second expedition to the International Space Station, has been to space four times in the last eight years and has spent 670 days in space.

The celebrated Russian cosmonaut, who also appeared in the IMAX Space Station film shown at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television last month, said: "It is great to be here and see the country. Everyone is very interested in our work and have asked a lot of questions."

He said one of the things he had to readjust to when returning to earth was the effort needed to move after the weightlessness of space. He said: "It is hard to walk the first couple of days. But I actually did more walking in space than here so was fitter."

Dr Martynov worked in Russian Mission Control for 25 years and was Head of Ballistics. He has designed re-entry modules for space flights to Mars and Venus and other planets of the solar system.

He said: "Most of the questions we are asked are about life and walking in space, and how cosmonauts can adapt to the atmosphere." He said he believes the next big step in space travel will be a manned mission to Mars and that space tourism will also really take off in the next few years.

He said: "We have 100 businessmen from all over the world who would like to fly using our space craft at the cost of $15,000 to $20,000 for a week. It is possible and good to experience but we have to be careful. It still can be dangerous and needs to be done properly."

Head of Cybernetics Dr John Baruch said: "It is absolutely terrific that we have had the chance to meet these two men. We want to inspire young people to go and do these things and take up the sciences. "Everybody who goes into space says it's fantastic. We want space travel to take off and we want Bradford to be in there."

Mir to Mars: Science on the Space Frontier was organised by SETPOINT West Yorkshire - part of the national network of organisations which aim to provide a one-stop shop for information about science, engineering technology and mathematics.

SETPOINT's Executive Director David Ross said: "To my knowledge this is the first time a Russian cosmonaut has visited our region. We are grateful to Yuriy and Alexander for providing this unique opportunity.

"We are also pleased to offer these free events to people and to give them the chance to hear one of the true heroes of the Space Age."

The event was funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for West Yorkshire's Future Skills Group - a national group whose purpose is to identify solutions to future skills needs.

11 February 2002

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