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October 29, 2009 (LPAC)— Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, has developed a design for a nuclear-powered manned spacecraft, Agency director Anatoly Perminov announced to a national meeting of the commission on the modernization of the Russian economy in Moscow Oct. 27. "The project is aimed at implementing large-scale space exploration programs," Perminov said.

This development is useful, but it is not the energy source we are looking for, Lyndon LaRouche said today. This design is the continuation and revival of a process, which should never have been dropped from space programs in the first place, LaRouche said. It is a useful contribution to a continuing process.

Perminov said that development of Megawatt-class nuclear space power systems (MCNSPS) for manned spacecraft, is crucial for Russia if it wants to keep a competitive edge in space, including the exploration of the Moon and Mars, Novosti reported. The draft design would be finished by 2012, and further development will require the investment of some 17 billion rubles ($580 million) in the next nine years. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on the national government to consider providing this funding.

At the same meeting, Anatoly Koroteyev, president of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics and head of the Keldysh research center, said that the Russian space industry's current capabilities are insufficient either to set up a permanent base on the Moon or send an independent manned mission to Mars. He said that the key scientific and technical problem for manned Moon and Mars missions, is development of new propulsion systems and energy supplies with a high degree of energy-mass efficiency.