International Space Station Phase 1 Program Joint Final Report

A Joint Commission comprising of Lt. General Thomas P. Stafford's Task Force and Academician Vladimir F. Utkin's Advisory Expert Council was commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Russian Space Agency (RSA) in accordance with the Directive issued by the Russian-American Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation on December 15, 1994. The Joint Commission was established to provide recommendations regarding safety assurance and implementation effectiveness of the joint Shuttle-Mir and NASA-Mir programs designated as Phase 1 of the International Space Station (ISS) program.

The experience developed by the Joint Commission resulted through the cooperation of a diverse group of U.S. and Russian experts who shared a mutual desire to work together. This experience offers completely new opportunities in the creation, management, and execution of such large-scale, multinational, and technically complex projects as the ISS. The Joint Commission is using this experience to assist in the development of preemptive steps for the detection of potential problems during Phase 2 of the ISS program.