Neither the Americans nor the Russians have the resources to continue human space flight on their own; both sides know they need each other. 61) {{U}}It's much easier and cheaper to get used to each other and to blend differing operating styles, languages, and systems on the aged Mir (a Russian word for "peace" ) than trying to do that while jointly building a new space station.{{/U}} NASA, in fact, calls its program of shuttle flights to Mir Phase 1 of the International Space Station( ISS ). Phase 2 marks the beginning of actual construction. The procedures used to dock the shuttle to Mir, for example, also will be used as a lifeboat for the ISS. And Progress freighters, like the one that crashed into Mir in June, will haul cargo to the ISS. 62) {{U}}One unintended benefit of Mir's technical troubles is that they have actually forced the two nations to work much more closely together than they had planned.{{/U}}
Except for a brief period in the 1970s with Skylab,NASA has never operated a space station; the Russians have been running them for years. Astronauts have long been trained intensively to perform specific tasks on shuttle flights lasting 18 days or less. 63) {{U}}Russian astronauts, however, learn more general skills, since they spend many months in orbit and no one can forecast all the problems they might encounter.{{/U}} As a result of shuttle-Mir experience, NASA is revising astronaut training to include more of the general skills they will need on the ISS.
NASA decided to send astronauts to Mir based on its long record of safe operation. But this year, crews aboard Mir have faced two of the most serious emergencies in the history of human space flight. 64) {{U}}In February, an oxygen generator caught fire, shooting out 4-foot-long jets of flame like; fire extinguishers were bolted in place, delaying reaction to the fire.{{/U}} In June, a Progress Freighter collided with the Spektr module, puncturing it. Spektr had to. be sealed off to prevent all the air from leaking from the spacecraft. 65) {{U}}The ancient computer that controls Mir has failed many times, causing most other systems, including the one that keeps the station's solar panels pointed at the sun, to shut down.{{/U}} One failure in August occurred while a Progress was docking. Last week, the computer crashed again, the carbon dioxide removal system shut down, and a mysterious brown fluid-probably rocket fuel -- appeared to leak from the station.