CASH-STRAPPED Russians want to make
money out of Mir, their station in space.
Their proposal to raise funds is to make
the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) officials use Mir,
which will outlive its usefulness sometime in the late '90s, for all activities
until Alpha, the us space station, is built.
It is difficult for the Russians to maintain Mir and also help other countries in
building new facilities in space.
The US is none too happy with the
proposal and has countered it with one
of its own, as Alpha has finally managed
to get the us Congress' go ahead, and
mixing both Mir and Alpha could spell
trouble for its space programme. "That
is the one non-negotiable item," says
NASA administrator Daniel S Goldin.
NASA's plan is to ask Russia delay its contributions of space data except those
crucial for the completion of Alpha and
also to shift two of the most modern lab
segments from Mir to Alpha once it is
completed. The Russian response is
awaited.
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