[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 119 (Friday, July 21, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 UNITED STATES COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS, INCLUDING 
               RUSSIA, IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

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                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 21, 1995
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for the 
international space station program. The first phase of this, the most 
challenging international technological project ever attempted, has 
already started with the space shuttle missions to Mir, the space 
station that has been operated by Russia for over 8 years. Just a few 
weeks ago, NASA and the Russian Space Agency demonstrated that joint 
operations in space are possible as the crew of Atlantis docked with 
Mir and became the largest, and most populated, spacecraft to ever 
orbit the Earth with its combined crew of 10. It was a flawless mission 
that provided our scientists with the opportunity to study the effect 
of long-duration space travel on one of our own astronauts and, for the 
first time, on two cosmonauts.
  Conducting these joint operations and joint scientific experiments on 
the shuttle/Mir aboard Mir teaches our two space agencies to work 
together. This provides valuable experience and test data that will 
greatly reduce the risk during assembly and operation of the 
international space station. Conducting scientific experiments aboard 
Mir also gives our researchers the opportunity to benefit from long-
term space flight--something not currently available on shuttle flights 
that only average about 10 days' duration.
  By incorporating Russia into the partnership, space station 
construction costs to the United States are reportedly decreased by 
about $2 billion overall, and it will be completed at least 15 months 
sooner than planned before Russia's inclusion. The Russian partnership 
will allow America to tap into the Russians' vast experience. Russians 
have nearly three times more time in orbit than Americans.
  But more importantly, as democracies the world over now face many 
difficult situations, we can look to the international space station 
program as the preeminent example of just how much we can accomplish 
when former adversaries work with each other, not against each other.


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