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The $100 billion
space station, visible from Earth to the naked eye, is a
habitable research outpost backed by 15 countries including the
United States, Russia and Germany. China and India are not part
of the group.
"We need to get away from the principle of being a closed club,"
Johann-Dietrich Woerner told German magazine Spiegel.
The space station is funded through 2020 and an extension until
2024 is under discussion.
An extension would give the U.S. space agency more time to
develop the technologies needed for eventual human missions to
Mars, the long-term goal of NASA's human space program.
Keeping the station in orbit beyond 2020 also opens a window for
commercial companies and researchers to benefit from hefty U.S.
investment in the outpost.
NASA's costs for operating the station, which flies about 250
miles (400 km) above Earth, run about $3 billion a year.
Woerner also said that Europeans, who currently rely on Russia
to travel into space, could launch their own manned rockets in
five years. "I don't give up hope that we Europeans will manage
our own take-off into orbit."
(Writing By John O'Donnell)
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