This will allow people to experience artificial gravity in space, which may be important for long-term missions to places such as Mars.

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Furthermore, governments in the region rely on American money and equipment as well as training missions as the centerpiece of long-term security.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Usachev has experience dealing with the consequences of a long-term stay in space, having spent two long-duration missions on the retired Russian space station Mir.

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China's navy in recent years has been taking part in antipiracy missions in the in the Gulf of Aden, for example, though it isn't likely the aircraft carrier will be participating in missions far from China's shores in the immediate term.

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While the benefits that the suits may provide are not critical for current space missions, both the MIT group and Dr Locke are thinking longer-term.

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In 1997, the first Quadrennial Defense Review sought to meet the missions set out in the National Security Strategy and establish a balance between near-term and far-term risks under the assumption that defense budgets would grow, at best, modestly over the next five to 10 years.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | The Measure of a Superpower: A Two Major Regional Contingency Military for the 21st Century | Page: 2

There are also real long-term savings to be achieved, for example, by developing a single airframe that can perform numerous validated missions thereby avoiding redundant, multi-billion dollar development programs.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | The Right Way To Respond To The ��Too-Many-Air-Forces�� Criticism: Keep The V-22 Osprey Multi-Service And Multi-Mission