All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center: almost a quarter of Russians would like to visit Mars

"Of all the planets and stars, the Russians are most interested in Mars. If there was an opportunity to visit any planet of our universe as a tourist, one in four would choose Mars (24%). It seems that in the minds of Russians, the question of whether there is life on Mars has not yet been closed", - the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center study says.

Among the potentially attractive space tourist destinations for Russians, the second place is occupied by the Moon, where every tenth compatriot (10%) would like to go. Another 9% of Russians would like to visit Venus, 6% — Jupiter, 5% — Saturn. 28% of respondents stated their indifference to space travel.

Sociologists found out that 45% of respondents believe in the beginning of manned flights from Earth to Mars in the next 50 years — in 2014, only 16% of respondents believed in it. In 2023, 37% of Russians expect that a permanent habitable base will appear on the Moon within the next 50 years, and another 37% consider it possible to start mining on other planets at this time. 22% of respondents admitted that within 50 years there will be inexpensive trips to space, and 21% of respondents believe in the creation of space hotels in orbits. 18% of compatriots did not rule out that an expedition from Earth to the nearest stars will take place in the next half century.

According to the survey, 10% of Russians expect that in the next 50 years aliens will land on Earth and come into contact with humanity. Another 7% of fellow citizens assume that in the next fifty years humanity will have to move to another planet due to overpopulation.

"The most popular pessimistic scenario is the transformation of outer space into an arena of military confrontation between states, 35% of Russians are concerned about it, which is 5 times more than in 2014 (7%). A gloomy forecast about the fall of a giant meteorite to Earth, leading to the destruction of humanity, was expressed by 10% of respondents, nine years ago 6% considered it realistic. The fact that the Sun will cool down and the Earth will become uninhabitable, and 5% and 3% of Russians are worried about the seizure of the Earth by alien civilizations, respectively", - the VTsIOM report says.

The study was conducted by the method of an All-Russian telephone survey in the period of April 6-7, 2023. 1600 adult respondents took part in it.