As astronauts on this spaceship called Earth, we can only overcome（克服） challenges by working（使工作） with each other rather than fighting. That's why this was the start of a new era（时代）. The modules（[计] 模块） were made in Russia, the US and Europe. It was a new world where we could work towards a common goal. This is a promising（有希望的） moment. The world had come together.
Russia's strategic（战略上的） nuclear missiles（导弹） soon will no longer be pointed at the United States, nor will we point ours at them. Given the current geopolitical situation, it's hard to imagine such a huge project coming together again. Instead of building weapons in space, Russian scientists will help us to build the International Space Station. While we were preparing at the Johnson Space Center, there was a poster saying 300 days till the first module launch（发射）, then 200 days till the module launch. I remember how it still seemed like a long time away. Now 25 years have gone by, it went by really quickly.
This is the most valuable machine humankind has ever built, and also the most unlikely one we've ever built. A new era in space travel. Today a Russian rocket（火箭） launched（发射） the first module（[计] 模块） of the planned International Space Station. And on the launch, it was November 20 of 1998, I had the entire（全部的） crew（全体船员） over to my house for a watch party. And so we headed on TV, and we were watching this proton（[物] 质子） rocket（火箭） lift Zarya to orbit, and it successfully made it to orbit. And we knew that now we were going to have a mission（使命）.
We were going to launch two weeks later, so it was a great joy（欢乐） in my family room that evening as we all watched Zarya launch（发射）. It was quite an event. We had a great time. One, two, one. We have booster ignition（点火） and liftoff of the space shuttle Endeavour（努力） with the first American element of the International Space Station. Then when it came time to actually enter the space station for the first time, as we opened the hatch and got it open, I said, "Sergay, come here."
And I pulled them up alongside（ 在旁边） me, and the whole crew went inside. But if you look at how we entered, Sergay and I entered through the hatch side by side. I felt it really important. If we're going to have an International Space Station, we have to enter as an international crew. So it's a trick question I ask people. I always say, "Who is the first person to enter the space station?" And there was no first person.
I had the privilege（特权） of being the first American, and Sergay was the first Russian, but we entered side by side. Before opening the hatch, we decided with Bob Cabana who will be first and who will be second. And we also talked about why. We entered the first module together, and we also went into the second, side by side. Then the whole team came, and the TV coverage（报道） began. It's tradition to keep a logbook, and it was only right that the shuttle commander（司令官） wrote the first entry.
It was the start of a path that we've been travelling together for 25 years. And I'd like to think I captured（捕获） it somewhat（有点） in the first log（航行日志） entry for the International Space Station. If you read that logbook entry, and the whole crew signed it, but it starts out, "From small beginnings, great things come." And it talked about our future and what we expected working together, and I truly（真实地） believe that's been the case. We can follow our dreams to distant（在远处的） stars, living and working in space for peaceful economic and scientific gain（增进）. Tonight, I am directing NASA to develop a permanently manned space station, and to do it within a decade.
Back then, we'd also go to the Russians. We flew straight to Moscow and said, "Hey, you've got your Mir space station. Let's do some research there together." And they said, "Sure, come join us." And within a few years, we had actually managed to carry out several missions on board Mir. In many respects, the 90s was an ideal time to lay the groundwork for these kinds of partnerships（ 合伙）. The Soviet Union had broken up, the idea to create a successor（继承者） to Mir was in the air, and the Americans also wanted to build a space station.
Those factors alone were good signs. And thankfully, the collaboration（合作） came together. At the time, the Mir station was the benchmark（基准）. The first module had gone into space in 1986. So, the experience that the Russians had had with the Salyut station and then with Mir was extremely valuable when it came to designing, constructing（建造） and operating（操作） the International Space Station. Russia had always been a proud nation and they were good at space travel.
They were experienced. They had their Soyuz rockets for decades. They'd built space stations. They had a lot of experience. Then the Americans came along and said, "We don't have the experience, but we do have the money." So, what happened was that Russian experience and the American money were brought together for the benefit of both.
That was the situation back then. When I look at the partnership of the International Space Station, it's truly amazing when you consider Russia, the United States, Japan, Canada, the European Space Agency（经办） and all its partners, we are all working together on this as one 250-some nautical（船员的） miles above the Earth with a crew（全体船员） up there every day continuously working（使工作） together. So, that's pretty awesome. Now, when I come into a training module like this one, it feels completely different. Before I flew to the ISS, this was all unfamiliar（不熟悉的） technology. It was confusing and complex.
But ever since I spent a year on the ISS, everything in here feels really familiar. You think differently about the equipment because you've worked with it for a long time. Even with a space station, you start to have a sort of personal relationship. It feels a bit like being at home. You see some businesses or being at a house. Being in the cupola was like the most special.
And we felt as a crew that we were really lucky because it had just been brought up by the crew before us and attached and all the spacewalks done to take the covers off. So, now we were able to look down on Earth and we didn't have the robotic arm station in there.