compared to American programs: cosmonauts had their days being planned for them to the minute, actions (such as docking) which would be performed manually by shuttle pilots were all carried out automatically, and cosmonauts had their pay docked if they made any errors during their flights. Americans learned aboard Skylab and earlier space missions that this level of control was not productive and had since made mission plans more flexible. The Russians, however, would not budge, and many felt that significant work time was lost because of this. Following the two accidents in 1997, astronaut Jerry Linenger felt that the Russian authorities attempted a cover-up to downplay the significance of the incidents, fearing that the Americans would back out of the partnership. A large part of this "cover-up" was the seeming impression that the American astronauts were not in fact "partners" aboard the station, but were instead "guests". NASA staff did not find out for several hours about the fire and collision and found themselves kept out of decision-making processes. NASA became more involved when Russian mission controllers intended to place blame for the accident entirely on Vasily Tsibliyev. It was only after the application of significant pressure from NASA that this stance was changed. At various times during the program, NASA managers and personnel found themselves limited in terms of resources and manpower, particularly as Phase Two geared up, and had a hard time getting anywhere with NASA administration. One particular area of contention was with crew assignments to missions. Many astronauts allege that the method of selection prevented the most skilled people from performing roles they were best-suited for. Finances Since the breakup of the Soviet Union a few years earlier, the Russian economy had been slowly collapsing and the budget for space exploration was reduced by around 80%. Before and after Phase One, a great deal of Russia's space finances came from flights of astronauts from Europe and other countries, with one Japanese TV station paying $9.5 million to have one of their reporters, Toyohiro Akiyama, flown aboard Mir. By the start of Phase One, cosmonauts regularly found their missions extended to save money on launchers, the six-yearly flights of the Progress had been reduced to three, and there was a distinct possibility of Mir being sold for around $500 million. Critics argued that the $325 million contract NASA had with Russia was the only thing keeping