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US-EUROPEAN COOPERATION IN SPACE SCIENCE 71 



A key feature of NASA's cooperative efforts is that "while NASA has 

 international programs, it does not fund an international program." 

 Rather, "funding for international projects must come out of the NASA 

 program offices," and "for an international approach to a project to be 

 undertaken it must not only contribute to achieving the goals of the in- 

 terested program office, but it must be considered to be among the best 

 approaches to achieving those goals. "^ This emphasis on technical 

 soundness and scientific merit has been a consistent feature of the 

 U.S. -European cooperation over the past 25 years, whatever other ob- 

 jectives are sought through such cooperation. As one perceptive 

 analysis notes, "although NASA recognizes possible political benefits 

 from achieving utilitarian goals, NASA's cooperative programs are 

 justified almost entirely on technical and scientific grounds, both within 

 and outside" the agency.^ 



The objectives of NASA's international programs can be grouped as 

 follows. 



Scientific/Technical 



• "Increasing brainpower working on significant problems and ex- 

 panding scientific horizons by making space an attractive field for re- 

 search."^ 



• Shaping the development of foreign space programs to be compati- 

 ble with the U.S. effort "by offering attractive opportunities to do it our 

 way'."'° 



• Through such influence, limiting funds available in other countries 

 for space activities that are competitive or less compatible with U.S. 

 interests. 



• Obtaining unique or superior experiments from non-U. S. investi- 

 gators. 



• Obtaining coordinated or simultaneous observations from multi- 

 ple investigators. 



• Increasingly making available opportunities for U.S. scientists to 

 participate in the space science missions of other countries or regions. 



Economic 



• "By sharing leadership for exploring the heavens with other quali- 

 fied space-faring nations, NASA stretches its own resources and is free 

 to pursue projects which, in the absence of such sharing and coopera- 

 tion, might not be initiated"^^; NASA estimates getting over $2 billion in 



