President Bill Clinton in 1993 directed NASA to cut the program's cost and complexity while jump-starting the Station's research capabilities and bringing Russia into the fold. NASA carried out the President's directive, and in addition to the Russian hardware already built or under construction for the International Space Station, that nation's contributions to the program include the nine joint Shuttle-Mir missions conducted from 1994 through 1998. It will provide more research opportunities, carry more crew, require less maintenance, generate higher power, and handle contingencies more effectively than any spacecraft before it. From the first tentative steps of the 1969 moon landing to today's reusable space shuttle, the space program has produced a range of secondary uses of aerospace technology. Communications satellites transmit computer data, telephone calls, and radio and television broadcasts.
Weather satellites furnish the data necessary to provide early warnings of severe storms.
Space technology has generated thousands of products and services ranging from the lightweight materials used in running shoes to respiratory monitors. Abridged from U.S. State Deparment IIP publications and other U.S. government materials. Any reference obtained from this server to a specific commercial product, process, or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the United States Government of the product, process, or service, or its producer or provider. The views and opinions expressed in any referenced document do not necessarily state or reflect those of the of the United States Government.