Mission Possible?

• Author: Tauber, Chris
• Position: International Space Station, joint effort, United States, Russia

The inaugural U.S.-Russian crew gives new life to the International Space Station

Test the toilet. That was at the top of the to-do list when a three-man U.S.-Russian crew boarded the International Space Station in November to turn on the lights, gel the oxygen pumping, and start the food warmers. "It's kind of like getting into your house," says crew commander Bill Shepherd.

The four-month mission to set up shop is being hailed as the beginning of a new space age. With cons continuing until 2006, the $60 billion station is to be home to astronauts for at least the next 15 years. Planners bill it as both a high-tech orbiting laboratory and a potential launching pad for missions to Mars, while critics say the station, plagued by delays and ballooning costs, isn't worth the price tag.

"There are so many people who felt maybe we couldn't do it," says Daniel Goldin, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. agency that's leading 16 participating countries. "But it's happening, it's here. We're going to be in space forever with people who are circling this globe."

To some, it has already seemed like forever just to get this far. Back in 1984, President Ronald Reagan first called for a space station that would cost $8 billion and be ready by 1992. It never got off the drawing board. In 1993, President Clinton revived the idea as a cooperative effort, with Russia helping to share the development costs. Since then, the U.S. has spent billions to bail out cash strapped Russia. Shepherd and his crew, Russians Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, were supposed to be on the space station almost three years ago, but Russia fell behind, and even resorted to selling advertising to raise cash -- one booster rocket was emblazoned with a giant Pizza Hut logo. Some estimates put the final cost of the station near $100 billion.

Still, two of the station's first three pieces, the Zvezda and Zarya modules, are Russian built. The European Space Agency and Japan will contribute laboratories, Canada will provide a 55-foot-long robotic arm, and Brazil and Italy are on board for other equipment. The U.S. will contribute the most modules, including a docking station, living quarters, and a laboratory.

NASA hopes that experiments conducted in the station's gravity-free environment will help develop new drugs, machines, computers, and materials. The station will also be used to train astronauts for prolonged missions in space...