OREANDA-NEWS. The risk of fatality on manned flights to planets will increase in proportion to the distance. This opinion was expressed by the Deputy Director for Science of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov.

Kotov said at a press conference at Rossiya Segodnya: “The words of Elon Musk in this case can be interpreted as the fact that the risk of fatal outcome during long-distance flights will increase proportionally. This is also a certain pattern, but it does not diminish the fact that you need to make every effort to minimize this risk. "

Earlier, the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, did not rule out that the conquest of Mars would require human sacrifice, and noted that only volunteers would go to the Red Planet.

“To be honest, a bunch of people will probably die first. It’s not easy to get there,” Musk said in an interview, quoted by CNN.

"This is a difficult and dangerous journey from which you may not come back alive, but it is a delightful adventure. It sounds tempting. Mars is the place. This is an advertisement for Mars," Musk joked.

According to him, there are thousands, if not millions, of volunteers for such an adventure.

Earlier, Musk said that humanity should strive to return to the moon and create a permanent base there, and later build the first city on Mars.