I.S.S. PHASE ONE SHUTTLE/MIR
Notes:
The US Space Shuttle docks with Russia's “Mir” space station. Vice President Al Gore and Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin signed an agreement for a two-phase International Space Station program at the US-Russian summit in Washington in September 1993. Phase One (1994-96) would involve Shuttle missions to Russia's current Mir station. NASA would pay Russia $100 million annually to keep a "guest astronaut" on the Mir complex. The money also made it possible for Russia to launch the “Spektr” & “Priroda” expansion modules to Mir, with some US experiments onboard. The program was later extended by two more flights in 1998 to help pay for Russia's ISS contributions. In the end, NASA paid the Russians $472 million for nine Shuttle dockings.
