The commander of the crew of the first main expedition to the station, William Shepard, said that the ISS could not have been in orbit without the participation of Russia
WASHINGTON, September 21. /TASS/. The International Space Station (ISS) would not have been able to be in orbit if Russia had not participated in this project. This was announced on Tuesday by the ex-commander of the crew of the first main expedition to the ISS (ISS-1 crew), former American astronaut William Shepard at a hearing in the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
He said that during the design and creation of the station "there were many difficulties", many "opposed the inclusion of Russian elements" in critical parts of the ISS, others said that it was even impossible to do this. "History has shown that they were all wrong. The ISS would not be flying today without the unique potential of our partners, especially Russian ones. < ... > There were no serious failures or accidents on the ISS, " Shepard said.
The ex-astronaut said that, working with representatives of the Russian industry, he "saw unique designs of spacecraft and space systems, excellent equipment and crew spacesuits, well-developed life support systems," as well as simple but effective thermal control systems, solar panels and control systems. "Russian engineers have taught us the most valuable technique - to mix the complex with the simple in the architecture of their systems, creating extremely reliable capabilities," Shepard added.
He recalled the previously recorded air leaks from the ISS. The former astronaut called on the leadership of NASA and Roscosmos to focus on " providing the necessary resources to end this problem."
In January 1996, Shepard was appointed crew commander of the first main expedition to the ISS (the ISS-1 crew). From October 31, 2000 to March 21, 2001, he was the crew commander of the 1st main expedition of the ISS.