NASA Urged to Buy Soviet Space Station

Two congressmen who tried to stop the building of a $30-billion U.S. space station are asking NASA why it isn’t buying a Mir station from the Soviets, who reportedly want to sell it cheap.

NASA’s reply: America’s aerospace industry wouldn’t like it.

The Soviets reportedly would build a space station for between $600 million and $700 million--that’s “million” with an “M,” not “billion” with a “B.”

“The Administration is intensely concerned about the health and capabilities of the U.S. aerospace industry,” said NASA Administrator Richard Truly in a letter to the congressmen.

“Depending on the specific case, procuring a Soviet system or technology in place of a procurement from U.S. industry may or may not be in the overall national interest,” he wrote.

The idea of buying Soviet space hardware has been raised frequently in light of the U.S.S.R.’s economic straits. The Soviets have 20 years’ experience with manned space stations, the last five years with Mir. They also have something the United States wants for its space station, a spacecraft--the Soyuz--which could be adapted for emergencies. And they have offered to sell their biggest rocket, the Energia, which far outstrips the carrying capacity of any launch vehicle in the U.S. inventory.

Two members of the House subcommittee that oversees NASA spending, Chairman Bob Traxler (D-Mich.) and the ranking minority member, Bill Green (R-N.Y.) asked Truly about the possibility of buying hardware from the Soviets.

“How real is the Soviet interest in possibly selling off the various components of its space program, including a Soyuz spacecraft and its space station?” they wrote.

Truly replied that NASA has received mixed signals on the subject.

A report published last month said the Soviets are even willing to sell the Mir, orbiting 240 miles above Earth. But industry experts say the offer is actually to manufacture another station like it, for $600 million to $700 million.

The congressmen asked Truly whether the United States could make practical use of the Mir.

“We know that the very prospect of such a transaction with the Soviet Union seems radical and highly problematic,” the congressmen said. “However, we continue to believe that we all have a responsibility to the American taxpayer” to operate the space program efficiently with an eye on the budget.

Truly said the two systems could be integrated but the two countries’ design philosophies “have evolved separately over 30-some years of system development.”

He said that the Bush Administration will consider “any credible Soviet overtures,” but that he doesn’t expect any actions soon.