Does Mars need women? Russians say no

Are women up to the job of exploring Mars?

This week, the director of Russia’s top space medical institute told students that only men should be allowed on the first mission to the Red Planet, because women are too weak to endure the flight's rigors. His comments once again exposed the internal contradictions of a country that put the first woman into space while having the reputation of being the last European bastion of male chauvinism.

After addressing students at Moscow International University, Professor Anatoly Grigoryev elaborated in comments reported by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency: "After all, women are fragile and delicate creatures; that is why men should lead the way to distant planets and carry women there in their strong hands."

Grigoryev, 61, has been director of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems in Moscow since 1988, specializing in spaceflight's medical factors. He is an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a member of the Presidential Council on Sciences and Education, and has enormous influence on the selection and training of all Russian space travelers.

Novosti quoted Grigoryev as saying that the first flight to Mars would put an enormous psychological and physical pressure on the crew, and that only “experienced men” could endure such an ordeal. "It is better to send professionals aged 35-55 with mandatory prior experience of spaceflight on a two-year voyage to Mars," he said.

No women allowed
Grigoriev's views will soon be put to an earthly test: The institute is planning a 500-day isolation chamber study to simulate a human Mars mission by six men — no women allowed. Formal recruitment will begin at an international conference on space biology and medicine in Berlin in September.

Dr. Mark Belakovsky, the project's director, says the project has "tremendous support" from Russia's space agency and the Russian Academy of Sciences. In addition, colleagues from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency have offered unofficial support, he said.

He told Russian journalists that the project will cost about $10 million, but he had no details on where the money would come from. The parent institute has been underfunded for more than 15 years, and most of its staff have either left or have jobs in other professions and only visit their desks sporadically.

Strong response
Grigoryev's reported comments sparked a strong response from Art Dula, a leading American space lawyer who has been chief counsel for space commercialization projects over the past 20 years. Dula said Grigoryev should either apologize immediately or face the consequences.

"Discrimination against women would make his organization, and any organizations whose activities it controls, possibly including the Russian Federal Space Agency, ineligible to contract with or receive funds from the U.S. government or any U.S. government contractor," Dula said in a statement e-mailed to MSNBC.com.

He said the U.S. government should tell Russian space officials that, "if Mr. Grigoryev meant what he said, then the U.S. will not provide funding, nor can they expect to meet and work with NASA personnel or contractors."  

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