Two hours after the first full-time crew boarded the international space station today, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin sent a not-so-subtle message to the Russian government, saying the station project would be in jeopardy if funding is not increased.

And soon.

"The most important quality in our Russian counterparts is the integrity with which they go about designing, developing and operating systems," Goldin said during a news conference at the Russian mission control center near Moscow. "They push us to our limits - which I think is fabulous - which causes us to operate even better.

"But there is one problem. Due to the economic situation in Russia, this outstanding team has not had the financial support of the Russian government. We are partners. And partners have to do what they say they're going to do and because these outstanding individuals haven't had the financial support of the government, it has created a whole range of undue stresses.

"And this is what I look forward to be resolved in the months ahead," Goldin said. "We cannot go on operating the way we've been operating."

He said NASA did not want Russia as a mere contractor, but "as an equal partner."

"We feel very strongly about this because they are outstanding and they have helped make this program as great as it is," Goldin said. "I'm confident the Russian government will supply the Russian Space Agency with the resources they need because this program is too important to everybody."

Valery Alaverdov, deputy general director of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, said Russian President Putin promised to put the space program high on the government's agenda.

"The president when he visited the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center said that he personally and the government would take measures to assist the program and this program was named one of the first priorities of our technology and research," Alaverdov said. "So this is being done right now and funding is being made available."

Russian space officials said last month government funding for next years's space station obligations had not yet been secured.

Yuri Semenov, general designer and president of the Rocket Space Corporation Energia, builder of the station's Zvezda command module, said today "we are taking every measure with the Russian government and it looks like we are making progress."

"Where there are many problems in a country, I can understand the government's position," he said. "There are other priorities where money needs to be spent. However, we are getting a response from the government, despite this special situation we have in the country."

In the meantime, he said, "many of the station's elements are being financed out of our own budget, waiting for any financing from RSA. This is not being done because we like RSA so much, but because we like what we do."

He said RSC Energia is investigating a variety of commercial ventures to raise money and offset out-of-pocket costs incurred during the ongoing government funding shortfall.