For £150 million a year for 20 to 25 years, Britain could play a full part in international manned flights, they say in a report commissioned by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).

Professor Frank Close, from Oxford University, Professor Ken Pounds, from the University of Leicester, an astronomer and former RAS president, and Dr John Dudeney, deputy director of the British Antarctic Survey, concluded that the expenditure would be worthwhile because of the wide commercial, educational, social and political benefits.

Involvement would also inspire a new generation of children and sow the seeds of future achievement.

Professor Pounds said: “In ten to fifteen years’ time, several nations will be involved in human space flight. If major countries are embarked on a return to the Moon and an exploration of Mars, the UK should want to be involved.”

While trips to the Moon and, at a pinch, to Mars were possible, going any further was at present “science fiction”, Professor Close said, because it was impossible to protect against radiation.

Drilling projects on the Moon and Mars could not be carried out by robots and would need human involvement, the report concluded. Scientific arguments for the projects were now stronger, and the time was ripe.

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