project by nine Shuttle–Mir docking missions, from STS-71 to STS-91. The Shuttle rotated crews and delivered supplies, and one mission, STS-74, carried a docking module and a pair of solar arrays to Mir. Various scientific experiments were also conducted, both on shuttle flights and long-term aboard the station. The project also saw the launch of two new modules, Spektr and Priroda, to Mir, which were used by American astronauts as living quarters and laboratories to conduct the majority of their science aboard the station. These missions allowed NASA and Roscosmos to learn a great deal about how best to work with international partners in space and how to minimize the risks associated with assembling a large space station in orbit, as would have to be done with the ISS. The project also served as a political ruse on the part of the American government, providing a diplomatic channel for NASA to take part in the funding of the cripplingly under-funded Russian space program. This in turn allowed the newly fledged Russian government to keep Mir operating, in addition to the Russian space program as a whole, ensuring the Russian government remained (and remains) friendly towards the United States. Increments In addition to the flights of the Shuttle to Mir, Phase One also featured seven "Increments" aboard the station, long-duration flights aboard Mir by American astronauts. The seven astronauts who took part in the Increments, Norman Thagard, Shannon Lucid, John Blaha, Jerry Linenger, Michael Foale, David Wolf and Andrew Thomas, were each flown in turn to Star City, Russia, to undergo training in various aspects of the operation of Mir and the Soyuz spacecraft used for transport to and from the Station. The astronauts also received practice in carrying out spacewalks outside Mir and lessons in the Russian language, which would be used throughout their missions to talk with the other cosmonauts aboard the station and Mission Control in Russia, the TsUP. During their expeditions aboard Mir, the astronauts carried out various experiments, including growth of crops and crystals, and took hundreds of photographs of the Earth. They also assisted in the maintenance and repair of the aging station, following various incidents with fires, collisions, power losses, uncontrolled spins and toxic leaks. In all, the American astronauts would spend almost a thousand days aboard Mir, allowing NASA to learn a great deal about long-duration spaceflight, particularly in the areas of astronaut