U.S. and Soviets Agree to Cooperate in Space Studies

MOSCOW — Soviet and American scientists agreed Monday to cooperate on a wide range of space research, including investigations of whether there is life on other planets.

Their first joint project under the agreement will be a satellite to be launched later this month with two monkeys, 10 rats, fish and other living organisms aboard for a 14-day flight.

The purpose is to study the impact of weightlessness on the vital functions of the animals, according to Yevgeny Ilyin, a section chief in the Soviet Health Ministry’s Institute of Medico-Biological Problems.

A list of 26 Soviet-American experiments was approved by working groups from the United States and the Soviet Union, Ilyin said at a news conference.

The possibility of finding life on Mars or another planet was included among future projects, according to Oleg Gazenko, the Soviet institute’s director. American scientists have experience with the Viking space probe program on Mars, he said, while Soviet space missions have attempted to gather information about Venus and other planets.

“American scientists evaluate results with a certain amount of pessimism,” Gazenko said. “In contrast, Soviet scientists have a somewhat more optimistic attitude toward the entire issue. But let this mystery remain a mystery for all of us for awhile.”

Samuel Keller, a representative of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said there is a “debate over Mars” and whether some form of life could exist on that planet. As for the possibility of future research with the Soviet Union in this field, he said: “We are certainly interested in extra-terrestial intelligence.”

Gazenko said the possibility of a joint flight to Mars was not discussed during the weeklong talks but said it might be raised at another time.

The Soviet and American scientists met for a week under the terms of a space cooperation agreement signed last April 15 by Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze and Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

They agreed then to cooperate on research using the Soviet Cosmos satellites, Gazenko said. In addition, they agreed to exchange information from manned space flights, with the aim of improving medical treatment and monitoring of astronauts and cosmonauts.

More Profound Study

They decided also to make a more profound study of how human metabolism changes when humans are placed in orbit; one symptom has been the loss of calcium from bones in prolonged space journeys.

Finally, they agreed to issue a set of books in Russian and English on space research findings for the 15 years after 1975.

Keller said the agreement was the start of a much broader effort “across the field of space science,” including a planetary conference in the Soviet Union next fall and sessions on astrophysics in the United States in 1988.

The scientists said the U.S. and Soviet governments have 90 days to approve the agreement but they expected no problem in ratification.