CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 25 (UPI) -- As NASA prepares for the launch Thursday of space shuttle Discovery on the second mission to the new space station, Russia is still holding out hopes of keeping its 13-year- old outpost in orbit. Said Boris Ostroumov, deputy director general of the Russian Space Agency, ``It just doesn't make much sense to get rid of such a treasure. '' Government funds for operating Mir will run out in August when the current station crew is scheduled to return to Earth, said Ostroumov. However, the station's orbit is expected to be stable with no additional fuel needed from Earth until February 2000. If the company currently soliciting proposals to keep Mir flying is unsuccessful by August, the station likely would be left untended but in orbit for several more months. Said Ostroumov, ``We all understand that no matter how bad we feel about it, we cannot support two programs at the same time....Any funds that are allocated will be used exclusively for the International Space Station.'' Russian delays in building the new station's core module have raised questions about a possible conflict of interest between maintaining Mir and building the new station. However, Ostroumov says the International Space Station is Russia's top priority.  