"MirCorp.'s strikingly brave effort represents a major success, and not only for private enterprise -- for NASA and other space exploration agencies as well," remarked Foundation President Rick Tumlinson, one of the effort's early leaders.

"As today's Lewis and Clarks, these agencies should be proud that the place they have been exploring for so long, the Near Frontier, is now about to see its first civilian residents."

The Russian firm, Energia, currently operates the Station and will be the majority stockholder in MirCorp., the new firm. The future of Mir was not always rosy, however.

The Russians had planned to de-orbit the Station and send it falling into the ocean, due to lack of funding. But after a year of exhaustive efforts by Foundation members and others, Mir received funding from a private venture company, and MirCorp. sprung to the rescue.

The Foundation, based in Los Angeles, has a decade-long history of interest in Mir. It started in 1991 as an article suggesting re-use of the spacecraft.

Tumlinson testified about Mir before Congress in 1995, and in 1997, the Foundation called for the commercialization of the Station, as part of its "Keep Mir Alive" campaign.

"The settlers and shopkeepers are finally moving out into the frontier of space," stated Foundation President Rick Tumlinson, who along with several others initiated the effort. "We are moving from the era of exploration, to the era of utilization; from a time when space was considered a 'program,' to a time when space is considered a 'place'."

The Foundation believes that MirCorp. fulfills all the goals of both the U.S. Administration and Congress, when it comes to the Russian space program. Stated Foundation Chairman Michael Heney, "It keeps Russian engineers in Russia, and it keeps them employed. It keeps production lines open to support NASA's International Space Station, and it gives them a new and peaceful symbol of Russian society moving into the world of free enterprise."

Mir's unique feature is that it will be the first space venture that is planned for future use by civilian citizens not associated with NASA or other space agencies. "New markets and activities mean lower costs, and the free market cycle will bring prices down over time," said Heney.

Tumlinson and the Foundation members wish the project well. He continued, "We hope others will join them and turn this into a revolution in the way humans see and participate in the opening of space."

SPACE TRAVEL
Capitalism Boosts Mir
Moscow (AFP) January 20, 2000
Russia is teaming up with Western investors to give the ageing Mir space station a new lease of life, with the dream of bringing corporate sponsorship, the Internet and tourism into the space age. Moscow approved Thursday a five-month mission to keep Mir -- which was to have been consigned to the cosmic scrap heap last August -- in orbit while Earthlings find the cash and the clients to make the bid commercially viable.