Now It's NASA's Turn
Wednesday, July 26, 2000
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Now the pressure is on NASA.
Russia's Zvezda Service Module at long last is firmly fixed to the International Space Station, clearing the way for the resumption of a $60 billion construction project that has been at a standstill now for 20 months.
The highly successful docking came at 8:44 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday (Wednesday, 12:44 a.m. GMT) as the existing seven-story station and Zvezda flew in formation over central Asia.
Traffic to and from the nascent station finally is supposed to pick up as construction crews piece together a half million pounds of hardware - or 85 percent of the U.S. side of the station - in the next 14 months.
And by October 2001, the international outpost is supposed to be so big - about the size of an average three-bedroom American house - that only the moon, Venus and Jupiter will outshine it in the night sky.
"Clearly, I think the torch has been passed from Russia back to the U.S. and the rest of our international partners to carry the load now," said veteran U.S. astronaut William Shepherd, who will serve as commander of the station's first full-time resident crew.
"The heat is on us to keep the schedule going and (keep) building the station."
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