The involvement of Russia is just slowing down the process of creating the ISS. It is starting to seem more like the NATIONAL space station. We could be ahead of schedule if we weren't waiting for Russia to finish their parts, this recent Discovery mission goes to show how much Russia is hurting this mission. If you didn't know, Discovery brought the supplies up to ISS that Russians were supose to bring...

Can someone tell me why the USA doesn't do this themselves or is it some expensive way to help foriegn relations?



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We live, we die, WHO CARES!
-Double Overdrive

One important point is that the Russians are the only nation with a launch vehicle big enough to launch the largest parts of the station. Without them the ISS just wouldn`t happen.

Not to forget forget the 15 other nations participating.

[This message has been edited by Mike (edited June 09, 1999).]