WASHINGTON -- Nations working on the construction of the U.S.-lead International Space Station (ISS) are rejecting America's efforts to scale back and slow down the costly project.

In a crowded meeting room here at NASA Headquarters, not only did the room temperature require adjustment.

"This could be one of the most interesting meetings of all time," said NAC chair, Charles Kennel, and director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. Technology, policy, politics, scientific goals, international relations were all part of a network of issues about the ISS that are on the table, he said.

Acting NASA Administrator, Daniel Mulville, told the gathering that the ISS program is testing leadership and management skills at NASA. Enormous budget challenges are ahead, with the agency trying to improve its ability to control ISS costs.

As for the future of the entire space agency, Mulville pointed out that NASA is entering a period of major overhaul. "We may not have the luxury of a slow transition," he said.

One by one, representatives from each major partner nation in the ISS program took the podium.

Doug Bassett of the Canadian Space Agency, and a 15-year veteran of the ever-evolving station program, was first to question, what he termed, NASA's "get well" plan.

The ISS program is based on Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), one that is a "Treaty Level" document, Bassett said. That IGA is law in Canada, legally binding any ISS partner that is "contemplating changes to its contribution" to seek government level consultation.

"In our view, the U.S. partner is now contemplating such changes," Bassett said. The Canadian government has communicated its concerns about this U.S. action to the U.S. State Department in early November, he said.

Bassett noted, as did following speakers, that the ISS Task Force has promoted the term U.S. Core Complete. But that language is not a recognized term within the IGA, he said.

That view was voiced by each of the non-U.S. partners represented at the NAC.

The idea of U.S. Core Complete and operating the station with a three-person crew is "unacceptable," Bassett said. Reducing crew size from an intended 6 to 7 person team, is a configuration that fails to satisfy the scientific objectives of the original ISS mission, not only for the U.S., but fails to satisfy the aspirations of the international partners, he said.

"I think that everybody agrees. A three-person crew will not be able to conduct science that is consistent with the level of investment that everybody has made," Bassett said. The Canadian Space Agency, he added, is proposing that NASA lead a multilateral working group to address how best to get the ISS program back on track.

The new head of the Canadian Space Agency, astronaut Mark Garneau, voiced concern that chipping away at the science value of the ISS would erode public and political support in his country. He quoted one high-ranking Canadian politician as saying that without science the ISS would become "the biggest white elephant in the history of humanity."

Arguably, the most forceful comments regarding the IMCE came from Jorg Feustel-Buechl, the European Space Agency's director of manned spaceflight and microgravity.

"Europe is determined to go on with the program," Feustel-Buechl said, noting that ESA invites all other partners, in particular the United States, to do the same and "bring stability back to the program as soon as possible."

Feustel-Buechl said the IMCE task force concentrated almost exclusively on U.S. problems. Recommendations were made that are "inconsistent with U.S. obligations," he said, adding that the IMCE directives actually penalize the international partners, he said.

NASA steps to put in place effective cost control measures and finding ways to run an efficient program in the United States "cannot be imposed at the expense of other partners," Feustel-Buechl said. Moreover, the idea of a Core Complete station, tended by a three-person crew, is viewed by ESA as "completely unacceptable," he said, "even as a threat".

Slowing down the ISS program is linked to further delaying the utilization of the orbiting research facility.

Reduced astronaut flight opportunities for the international partners means less time to conduct science of benefit to Earth, Feustel-Buechl said. He took issue with the task force position that solving problems of long duration space flight -- flight-qualifying humans for future Moon and Mars missions -- should be given high research priority aboard the ISS.

Rather, research dedicated to improving the quality of life on Earth through new materials or drugs is seen in Europe as a lead ISS priority, Feustel-Buechl. For other nations, commercial use of space may be a top goal, he said.

The U.S. should not set priorities for others, Feustel-Buechl said. "We are a partnership, all together. We should combine and coordinate our priorities in order to make the very best use of the ISS," he said.

Also voicing strong reaction to the IMCE report was Tomiji Sugawa, deputy director general of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He reported that Japan's primary ISS contribution, the Japanese Experiment Module, now tagged "Kibo", is presently undergoing testing.

Sugawa said Japan considers it "quite serious" that the IMCE report does not clearly reflect the fulfillment of the U.S. obligations to the ISS program as identified in signed agreements and memorandums of understanding.

The IMCE report does not promise to provide a reliable road map leading to a seven-person crew of the ISS, Sugawa said. Also, the task force report, he added, does not preclude the possibility that the ISS would be run by a three-person crew for a long period.

"Japan is concerned about the unfavorable situation that the IMCE report could cause," Sugawa said. Having less crew time and a decrease in flight opportunities for Japanese astronauts will mean Kibo is insufficiently utilized, he suggested.

Japan still faces technical challenges in readying a centrifuge module for ISS use, deemed essential by many scientists for biological research. A major review of that effort will be done next year, said Yasushi Horikawa, in the office of space utilization systems at the National Space Development Agency of Japan.

Due to technical challenges and budget cutbacks, delivery of the centrifuge -- able to spin at varying speeds -- has been pushed to 2008, Horikawa said. That date has been found by the IMCE to be unacceptable.

Andrey Dubinin, a Russian Embassy attaché, represented Rosaviakosmos, the Russian Space Agency.

Similar in view with other ISS partners, Dubinin said the ISS is being delayed for two years "because NASA will not make practical decisions."

"A crew of three is, of course, not enough," Dubinin said.

The IMCE task force report calls for a decrease in shuttle hops to the ISS. That translates to more Progress resupply flights, an added expense, Dubinin said. Additionally, visiting crews to the station would be relied upon more, thus requiring a longer training time to perform new functions, but again, at increased cost.

Dubinin underscored the option of using the Enterprise module, a multi-purpose commercial space station habitat. Attached to the Russian side of the ISS, the Enterprise is being pursued by Russia's RSC-Energia and the U.S. private company, SpaceHab.

That facility, replete with an attached Soyuz, could boost the onboard ISS crew to six, Dubinin said, and the idea should be considered a viable option for the ISS program.

Thomas Young, also a NAC member, reemphasized the fact that NASA has lost credibility with elements of the U.S. government. He said that views expressed by the ISS partners and the approved ISS budget for the United States are "situations that are inconsistent."

Recommendations cannot be made on the ISS program in isolation from the current environment that the program finds itself in, Young said. "What NASA should do is put their noses to the grindstone and excel for the next two yearsand earn back respect, credibility and confidence," he said.

The program has entered a "period of consolidation," the NAC members agreed.

Pushing on the NASA bureaucracy to return accurate dollar projections to first understand, then fix ISS woes, is now elusive and requires an overhaul, several NAC members admitted

"It's like trying to talk to my auto mechanic," said NAC member, Laurie Zoloth, professor of ethics at San Francisco State University.