Russian space chief urges USA to resume shuttle flights, increase ISS crew
Posted on: Tuesday, 17 February 2004, 06:00 CST
Text of report by Russia TV on 17 February
[Presenter] Russia insists that the permanent crew aboard the International Space Station be increased to six, Russian Aviation and Space Agency head Yuriy Koptev said today. Russia also wants the flights of US space shuttles, suspended after the Columbia disaster on 1 February 2003, to be resumed.
Koptev has also called on his American colleagues to cast a sober look at the expediency of financing of some of their space programmes.
[Koptev, speaking at a news conference] It is necessary to pass from emotional support to a pragmatic estimate of how much it will cost and where the financial resources may come from. And the main thing is to find out what the materialization of a man on this planet [Mars] can give us. As I see, even our American colleagues have no clear answer to many questions so far.
[Presenter] Koptev also said that all manned flights to the ISS will be performed from the Baykonur launch site. Using the Kourou launch site in French Guiana for this purpose has not been discussed, he said.
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