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Tom Cremins served as NASA's Deputy Assistant to the Director for Human Space Flight Programs, Russia. He joined NASA in 1993 as a Russian affairs program analyst in the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters. In May of 1994, he transferred to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he has held progressively responsible positions supporting Russian space flight programs.
Cremins has a bachelor of arts degree in International Relations. Prior to his NASA career and a master's degree in International Science and Technical Policy. In his Oral History, Cremins comments on the reasons for establishing the Phase 1 Program:
"[A]ll the flights and [the U.S.] starting to pay for some of that activity -- a lot of that was directly related to trying to discourage Russian scientists and engineers from leaving the country and working for folks that didn't necessarily have a global interest or a good global interest, as well as to discourage some sales that were going on at that time of rocket technology [by Russia] to India that we [U.S] were uncomfortable with. . . [Plus trying] to create a positive venue for Russia and us to be working in, in a non-threatening manner.
"So that was really what generated, I think, at the top level, generated a lot of the support for doing the flights to Mir. But there's a lot of levels to it�. It was [also] a way to have a destination for the shuttle and to give early experience [for the International Space Station]."
Tom Cremins Oral History (PDF)
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Curator:
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Responsible NASA Official: John Ira Petty