The Russians demanded 20 million dollars for the flight
About six months ago, the Israel Space Agency rejected an international consortium's request to participate in the maintenance of the Russian space laboratory "Mir" and to send an astronaut for an extended stay in the spacecraft - yesterday the director of the Israel Space Agency, Avi Har-Evan, told this at the 39th conference for aeronautics and space in Israel, which was held This week in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
"Mir" was born as a Russian project, during the Cold War, and later became a joint project for the Russians and the Americans. The spacecraft was sent into space in the mid-80s and was supposed to stay there for five years. The economic situation made it difficult for the Russians to build a new spacecraft, and "Mir" remained in space. It is supposed to be abandoned and fall into the Pacific Ocean in 2000. Recently, the Prime Minister of Russia, Yevgeny Primakov, announced that he is trying to raise 250 million dollars from international bodies, in order to continue operating the spacecraft.
In response to Haaretz's question, Har-Evan said that participating in the project would have cost Israel tens of millions of dollars, and this amount does not justify the possible benefit. According to him, it is better for Israel to utilize its technological capabilities in the International Space Station project. At the permanent international station there will be representatives of Europe, the USA, Japan and Russia. The station will be ready in 2004. It will be built in space, will reach the size of a football field, and will be visible from Earth.
The American astronaut Shannon Lucid, a guest of the Israel Space Agency and the conference management, stayed on "Mir" for about six months in '96. According to her, the spacecraft continues to function beyond the planned time, which is the reason, among other things, for the many malfunctions that occurred in it.
According to Lucid, the American astronauts, who were chosen for a four to six month stay on "Mir", underwent multiple preparations, including a year at the Russian training center "Star City" near Moscow. Most of the astronauts in the program board the "Mir" and disembark from it on space shuttle flights. They must become familiar with the space shuttles, the "Mir" and the "Soyuz" spacecraft, which are used as "lifeboats" in an emergency.
Published in "Haaretz" on 02/19/1999
