September 24 was marked by the start of a promotional campaign titled "Our Mars", carried out by the magazine Popular Mechanics.
This project is supported by the website www.go2mars.ru where a team of Popular Mechanic correspondents poses the following question: is it necessary for Russia to send its own piloted expedition to Mars or not. This decision should be made not only by the officials and the presidential administration, but by everyone. The results of the online voting will be sent to the government of Russia. All the necessary information can be found on the website of the project, so that readers could make a deliberated decision.
"According to the expert estimations, expenses for such a project will make up approximately $20 billion in ten years, i.e. $2 billion a year. Is it too much or is it OK? For example, each "Yuriy Dolgoruky" nuclear vessel costs Russia exactly a billion. So the Russians must decide, on what the money should be spent!" says the chief editor of Popular Mechanics Alexander Grek.
"Many people think that Russia cannot afford outer space exploration, and going to Mars in particular. There are so many problems unsolved, so to say, and this project demands huge capital investments. But I am sure that piloted expedition to Mars is indispensable for Russia. I vote PRO!" declares Leonid Gorshkov, the head of the Martian program in the Cosmic Missile Corporation "Energy".
The following communications media are involved the promotional campaign "Our Mars": an advertising campaign in the Internet (banners and content), vedomosti.ru, smartmoney.ru, rb.ru, Vedomosti newspaper, and SmartMoney magazine.