MOSCOW, July 26 (RIA Novosti) - The successful launch of the space shuttle Discovery is good news for the future of the International Space Station, said Alexey Krasnov, a Russian Space Agency official.
The expert said the launch eliminated the uncertainty surrounding the future of the ISS and alleviated a burden on Russia, which had to maintain the orbital station alone.
The news allows Russia to solve several technical problems, including returning faulty blocks from the Electron oxygen supply system from the station and finding the cause of their malfunction.
Krasnov expressed hope that the Discovery flight will go as planned and that the next U.S. space shuttle launch will happen in September. The crew of the next mission will include, aside from U.S. astronauts, the first European mission specialist, who will be part of a long-term mission aboard the ISS.
As a result, the ISS crew will get a third member.
Krasnov also said Discovery's successful flight would open the door for a meeting of space agency heads from the member states of the international space program.
The ISS program is a joint project of the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan. The agreements on cooperation in the creation of the modules of the piloted space station assembled in orbit by space shuttles were signed by NASA and the Russian Space Agency in 1998.
The Russian Zarya module, launched in November 1998, marked the start of the construction of the largest artificial space object. After completion, the station will weigh 470 tons and measure 109 meters in length and 88.9 meters in width.
The total cost of the construction is estimated at $40 billion.
