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20 November 1998

TEXT: GORE ON LAUNCHING FIRST PART OF INT'L SPACE STATION NOV. 20

(Station marks the dawn of a new era in space exploration)  (460)
Washington -- The first element of the largest and most complex
international scientific project in history, the International Space
Station, successfully lifted-off on November 20 atop a Russian proton
rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan, Vice President Gore
has announced.
The US-owned control module named Zarya, which is Russian for
"Sunrise" is much more than a "piece of hardware," Gore said in a
statement released by the White House November 20. "It was the first
piece of a space station that marks the dawn of a new era in space
exploration and a new horizon of human knowledge."
"Over the next five years," Gore said, "45 assembly missions will take
place from four launch sites around the world; the next one, carrying
NASA's Unity module, will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida less than two weeks from now."
Following is the White House text:
(begin text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President
Friday, November 20, 1998
STATEMENT BY VICE PRESIDENT GORE ON LAUNCHING FIRST PART OF
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
The first element of the International Space Station -- the US-owned
control module named Zarya, which is Russian for "Sunrise" --
successfully lifted-off today atop a Russian proton rocket from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan.
As the control module's name suggests, what was launched today was
much more than a piece of hardware. It was the first piece of a space
station that marks the dawn of a new era in space exploration and a
new horizon of human knowledge.
Over the next five years, 45 assembly missions will take place from
four launch sites around the world; the next one, carrying NASA's
Unity module, will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
less than two weeks from now.
The International Space Station is the largest and most complex
international scientific project in history. It will be a world-class,
space-based laboratory of unprecedented scale and a home to
cutting-edge research in areas like biotechnology. It will draw upon
the resources of 16 nations to use the vastness of space to view the
beauty of Earth.
Proudly, boldly, and rightly, the United States is leading the way.
And I firmly believe that this permanent foothold in the heavens will
enrich our economy and enhance life here on our planet in ways that we
cannot even imagine.
I can think of no more fitting way to begin a new century and a new
millennium than not only reaching for the stars, but by joining them,
learning from them, and one day, maybe visiting them.
(end text)