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CONFLICTING INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCHEDULES BETWEEN US AND RUSSIA

DAN RATHER, anchor:

There is another fast-approaching deadline tonight. This one involves settling a serious political standoff over a parking space in space. At issue: who gets final say over the new International Space Station? It's a 21st century twist on the tensions of the US-Russia space race. CBS' Bobbi Harley reports on the gravity of this dispute.

BOBBI HARLEY reporting:

When the space shuttle Endeavour blasted into orbit, no one could have predicted the mission would become so controversial, resulting in a standoff with the Russians reminiscent of the Cold War.

Mr. JOHN PIKE (globalsecurity.org): This is basically a measure of who's the most powerful in the world, what countries are friends and what countries are not friends.

HARLEY: The space station and the shuttle have had computer problems, and NASA wants to keep the shuttle in orbit an extra day. And there's the rub. The Russians are scheduled to launch their own rocket to the space station tomorrow, but until the shuttle leaves, parking is tight, prompting NASA to ask the Russians to wait. The Russians are reluctant, but NASA says if the Russians try to dock with the American shuttle still attached to the station, everyone will be at risk.

Mr. DANIEL GOLDIN (NASA Administrator): Safety is our number-one objective. Respect among the partners is part of safety.

HARLEY: But that partnership has become increasingly strained in recent weeks. The most controversial issue: the Russians' plan to send California businessman Dennis Tito to the International Space Station, despite protests from NASA and the station's other partners.

Mr. DENNIS TITO (Space Tourist): It's really hard for me to understand why. I think this flight would be--will be very good for NASA, and I think the ISS needs the positive publicity.

HARLEY: Ironically, Tito is scheduled on the Russian flight now in question, a mission he paid an estimated $ 20 million to the Russian space program to take. It's money sorely needed. As the former Soviet Union struggles with its post-Communist economy, its space program has fared even worse as it moves from a state-run operation to a commercial enterprise.

Logistically, the space station can have two spacecraft docked at once, but there's only a 20-foot leeway. That's too close for comfort for NASA when it means docking to something that's moving at a rate of five miles a second. Bobbi Harley, CBS News, at the Kennedy Space Center.