Russia and the United States, the certified manned-space powers, were joined by 13 other nations today in signing a formal pact to begin construction this year of the long-awaited International Space Station.
The Washington, DC, signing ceremony included Japan, Canada, and 11 members of the European Space Agency: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The station, to become habitable in 1999 and scheduled for completion in 2003, has already been the subject of experiments and test runs on both the US space shuttles and Russia's Mir space station. All parties to the pact have participated in supplying technology for the project.
