Roscosmos chief suggests creating tourist module on Russia’s next orbital station

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. Head of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin suggested creating a special module for tourists on the future Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). The Roscosmos Scientific and Technical Council discussed the ROSS architecture at its meeting on July 31, Rogozin said. "I suggested that the project should include the creation of a separate module for visitors," the Roscosmos chief said during his lecture at the Summer Space School. Unlike American billionaires, Roscosmos will not engage in suborbital flights, he stressed. "This is more of a business for private companies," Rogozin pointed out. However, Roscosmos will engage in developing space tourism as part of the orbital piloted program, he specified. As an example, the Roscosmos chief outlined plans for launching young scientists into outer space to conduct experiments aboard the space station on their own, if the training for the flight is expedited. The Summer Space School is an annual scientific and educational program for schoolchildren, students and specialists. This year, the school is being run at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) in Moscow. The school’s program consists of two stages: at first, the participants take a course of theoretical lectures on astrophysics, cosmonautics, space medicine and space communications, following which they get practical skills with a simulated interstellar flight. Read more