During these trips, the astronauts visited and provided scientific descriptions of geologic features they were likely to encounter.
A space station alternative that would allow astronauts to visit the laboratory only for a few weeks at a time "is not a worthwhile option for the nation to pursue," the panel said.
Prior to the conduct of ASTP, the astronauts and cosmonauts visited each other's space centers and became familiar with the spacecraft of the other country.
Recent research suggests that contamination of Mars is inevitable if human astronauts visit the surface.
Project engineers said no serious consideration had been given yet to the possibility of having future astronauts visit the Hubble telescope and try to remove the obstruction.
Over the course of the Mir programme, various European astronauts visited the station as part of several cooperative programmes:
The 1971 Apollo 15 mission was the first to use a four-wheeled rover vehicle to extend the amount of territory the astronauts could visit on the Moon.
Scientists and researchers are preparing for the day when astronauts may visit these unexplored worlds.
It would be launched into orbit on the shuttle, and astronauts would visit periodically to monitor experiments in low gravity crystal growing and materials processing.
The story depicted a human astronaut, a representative of the Galactic Republic, visiting the planet Cybrinia inhabited by robots.