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Valeri Morgun from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center served as a co-chair for the Medical Operations Working Group. This group was responsible for defining health care systems requirements in support of astronauts and cosmonauts involved in cooperative missions.
Morgun worked very closely with his American counterpart, Roger Billica of the NASA Johnson Space Center during Phase 1. Together, they chaired the working group on medical support. In his Oral History, Morgun said:
"Our group had levied upon it a number of very responsible problems, issues, to solve; for example, medical support and preparation of both cosmonauts and astronauts, the medical support in the course of space flight, and support in the post-flight period. Our group developed and compared joint medical standards. We concurred in a medical monitoring system. We concurred in questions related to practical medical issues, and we concurred in questions regarding the preparation of medical experiments to be carried out . . .
He added, "Today, we're no longer Drs. Billica and Morgun; we're friends. This whole period has taught both him and me that this is the way to work. I'm very happy that both U.S. and Russian medical teams are moving on into Phase 2. I know that this will make our work in Phase 2 easier. It will make it more simple, because we already know each other, we know each other's styles of work, we're aware of some of the difficulties that are in front of us and how to eliminate those difficulties. So it's a very positive outlook for such cooperation in Phase 2."
Valeri Morgun Oral History (PDF)
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Curator:
Kim Dismukes
Responsible NASA Official: John Ira Petty