Russian Scientists Developing Hibernation Drugs for Interplanetary Flights

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian scientists are developing drugs that can be used for cosmonauts' "hibernation," which is needed for carrying out interplanetary flights, Anatoly Kovtun, head of the project group in the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research, told Sputnik.

"The approach to causing artificial hypobiotic state, which is being developed, can be used during development of technologies needed for exploration of far space and other planets of the Solar system as achievement of these goals is possible only through the decrease in the oxygen consumption and consumption of sources of cosmonauts' energy supply," Kovtun said.

He pointed out that the final goal of the research is creation of pharmacological drugs that may cause artificial hypobiotic state similar to bears' hibernation.

Head of Russia's Institute for Biomedical Problems (RIBP) Oleg Orlov previously said that Russia and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had signed a cooperation agreement on a five-year ground isolation program to prepare crews for future interplanetary spaceflights.