Editing Shuttle–Mir program (section)

===Attitudes===
Attitudes of the Russian space program and NASA towards Phase One were also of concern to the astronauts involved. Because of Russia's financial issues, many workers at the [[Mission Control Center#RKA Mission Control Center|TsUP]] felt that the mission hardware and continuation of ''Mir'' was more important than the lives of the cosmonauts aboard the station. As such the program was run very differently compared to American programs: cosmonauts had their days being planned for them to the minute, actions (such as docking) which would be performed manually by shuttle pilots were all carried out automatically, and cosmonauts had their pay docked if they made any errors during their flights. Americans learned aboard ''[[Skylab]]'' and earlier space missions that this level of control was not productive and had since made mission plans more flexible. The Russians, however, would not budge, and many felt that significant work time was lost because of this.<ref name="Dragonfly"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Leland F. Belew|title=9 The Third Manned Period|work=SP-400 Skylab, Our First Space Station|publisher=NASA|date=1977|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-400/ch9.htm|access-date=April 6, 2007|archive-date=March 16, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316002732/http://history.nasa.gov/SP-400/ch9.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the two accidents in 1997, astronaut [[Jerry Linenger]] felt that the Russian authorities attempted a cover-up to downplay the significance of the incidents, fearing that the Americans would back out of the partnership. A large part of this "cover-up" was the seeming impression that the American astronauts were not in fact "partners" aboard the station, but were instead "guests". NASA staff did not find out for several hours about the fire and collision and found themselves kept out of decision-making processes. NASA became more involved when Russian mission controllers intended to place blame for the accident entirely on [[Vasily Tsibliyev]]. It was only after the application of significant pressure from NASA that this stance was changed.<ref name="Dragonfly"/><ref name="OffPlanet"/>

At various times during the program, NASA managers and personnel found themselves limited in terms of resources and manpower, particularly as Phase Two geared up, and had a hard time getting anywhere with NASA administration. One particular area of contention was with crew assignments to missions. Many astronauts allege that the method of selection prevented the most skilled people from performing roles they were best-suited for.<ref name="Dragonfly"/><ref name = "OffPlanet"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Ben Evans|title=Space Shuttle Challenger: Ten Journeys into the Unknown|publisher=Springer-Praxis|date=2007|location=Warwickshire, United Kingdom|isbn=978-0-387-46355-1|id= {{ASIN|0387463550|country=uk}}}}</ref>