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Glenn Mahone/Doc Mirelson
Headquarters, Washington                        May 5, 2003
(202/358-1600)

RELEASE: 03-157

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY CONGRATULATES EXPEDITION SIX CREW

Vice President Dick Cheney offered his congratulations to the
International Space Station Expedition Six crew just hours after
the three crewmembers safely landed Saturday night in Kazakhstan.

The Vice President spoke by telephone with Expedition Six Commander
Kenneth Bowersox, and he offered his appreciation for the crew's
dedication and willingness to extend their mission in the wake of the
Space Shuttle Columbia mishap. 

Bowersox, NASA Space Station Science Officer Donald Pettit, and
Russian Flight Engineer Nikolay Budarin are doing well and have been
reunited with their families in the Russian cosmonaut-training
center, Star City, near Moscow. 

The Expedition Six crew spent about five-and-a-half months in orbit
onboard the International Space Station. Originally slated to return
to Earth in March on a NASA Space Shuttle, the crew used a Soyuz TMA
spacecraft instead. Russian spacecraft will be used to re-supply the
Station and for Expedition crew exchange until the NASA Space Shuttle
fleet returns to flight status. Although the crew landed safely, the
Soyuz spacecraft landed almost 300 miles short of the intended
touchdown area. A joint NASA-Russia investigation team begins work 
this week to determine the cause of the landing error.

For more information about NASA, the International Space Station, and
the human space flight program on the Internet, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov

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