debate brews: should mir project continue? - solar air purifier

(CNN)--
The crew of the Russian Mir space station are operating at minimal power while trying to recover from the damage caused by Wednesday's collision with the cargo ship.
Given the problems with the space station since February--
Fire, oxygen supply failure and air purifier failure-
Someone was wondering if the Mir plug should be completely unplugged. Sen.
James Sensenbrenner
When he says, "We have to determine whether science is worth putting more Americans at risk.
The space disaster of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, which formed the basis for the blockbuster Apollo 13, made an argument that science was not worth it.
"I think it's time for risk not to be rewarded.
We have learned as much as possible from using Mir, "he said, suggesting that Mir retire in a dignified manner while the Russian Space Agency and NASA continue to the International Space Station.
NASA director Daniel Golding is considering a request from Congress to ask the United States to issue a written guarantee that the Mir is safe. S. standards.
At the same time, space agency managers are trying to capture the latest events with the best light-
And remind the government that NASA's mission to Mir is not just science.
The space shuttle docking and the long astronaut stay at the aging outpost is the first phase of an extremely complex, very expensive plan to build a new International Space Station, with the Russians as the main partners.
NASA executives say that, as important as any scientific experiment, the two institutions have learned to cooperate through this mission.
After six shuttles docking with Mir, NASA and Russians learned about the pitfalls of their cooperation.
President Clinton has often received updates from NASA and, through his spokesman, said he remains committed to the space shuttleMir program.
In order to work together, space analyst John logosden said the shuttle continues
The Mir plan is the right thing to do.
"If it's over now, we'll learn more, but I don't think that's an indication of the prospects for the new part of the project," he said . ".
11 years after the launch of its first batch of products, Mir has far exceeded its design life.
Hopefully it can be traded into a new model, and although there are some moments of anxiety on the road, that hope still seems to be there.
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