Prague - If we cannot have the US radar base in the Czech Republic, we want our man in space. That is the message of Czech foreign minister Jan Kohout sent to American diplomats, as Barack Obama's administration scrapped plans to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic.
The question is not when that could happen as to more is it realistic to expect the US to agree on that? The currently used American space shuttle is scheduled to retire at the end of next year and the new type (Orion) will be available no sooner than in 2015.
"It takes two years to prepare a tourist for a space trip. Should the person carry out any kind experiment in space, the training takes much longer," Jan Kolář, professor at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague and the director of the Czech Space Office told Aktuálně.cz. The office coordinates Czechs' participation in space flight related international projects.
In other words, even if Americans agree with taking a Czech astronaut on board, it would hardly be on the last few scheduled for not that far future.
China and Russia
Besides the US, it is only China and Russia that know how to send people to space.
China is ruled out in terms of cooperation and the US-Russia space program includes a tight flight schedule.
"There is a detailed timetable of flights, so Americans would have to take off one of their men from the program and they will hardly do that," Jan Kolář told Aktuálně.cz.
Moreover, the US will pay 50 to 60 million dollars per astronaut being carried to space by Russian spacecraft.
The country simply cannot afford paying 1 billion CZK at the moment. The Czech government has scrapped subsidies in the science sector.
Another option how to get a Czech astronaut to space is via the European Space Agency (ESA), of which the Czechs have become member last year.
By the time the country entered the organization last year, the astronaut recruitment by ESA have been closed by then.
The future American spacecraft Orion is expected to also take man to the Moon hopefully by 2020. But it would be preposterous to think that Americans would be ever willing to take a Czech on board in such a highly prestigious and national propaganda driven project.
