NASA to pay Russia for Soyuz rocket trips - $21.8 million per astronaut

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-01-06T054520Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-230688-1.xml&archived=False

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The United States, which beat Moscow in a race to the moon during the Cold War, will pay Russia $21.8 million per astronaut for a lift aboard a Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, the U.S. space agency NASA said on Thursday.

The fare is slightly more than the world's first "space tourists" forked out for a ride into space with the Russian craft.

With its shuttle fleet grounded and no other vehicles available to serve as space station rescue boats, NASA had no choice but to pay Russia for transportation or abandon the half-built orbital outpost.

Congress last year lifted a weapons proliferation ban so NASA could buy Russian space services. The ban was enacted after concerns that Russian technology was helping Iran develop its nuclear program.

JFK must be rolling in shame..... as are the rest of us.