ISS partners agree to expand station crews
Posted: Sat, Jul 24, 2004, 2:55 PM ET (1855 GMT)
Representatives of the five major International Space Station (ISS) partners agreed Friday on a plan that would allow the station to host crews as large as six people by the end of the decade. At meeting in the Netherlands, the ISS partners agreed to a new assembly plan for the station that will, among other things, provide "early opportunities for an enhanced crew of greater than three people." Reports suggested that this would permit a crew of up to six to stay on the station, although Reuters reported the crew could be as small as four; the ISS hosted three-person crews prior to the Columbia accident last year. The expanded crew would also require additional Soyuz spacecraft to serve as lifeboats, which may require NASA to purchase them, something not permitted today by US law. Once the shuttle returns to flight, it will be focused on completing the assembly of the station, with crew rotations to continue to be performed by Soyuz spacecraft. NASA will also look into ways to accelerate the launch of the Kibo and Columbus laboratory modules for Japan and Europe, respectively.
Representatives of the five major International Space Station (ISS) partners agreed Friday on a plan that would allow the station to host crews as large as six people by the end of the decade. At meeting in the Netherlands, the ISS partners agreed to a new assembly plan for the station that will, among other things, provide "early opportunities for an enhanced crew of greater than three people." Reports suggested that this would permit a crew of up to six to stay on the station, although Reuters reported the crew could be as small as four; the ISS hosted three-person crews prior to the Columbia accident last year. The expanded crew would also require additional Soyuz spacecraft to serve as lifeboats, which may require NASA to purchase them, something not permitted today by US law. Once the shuttle returns to flight, it will be focused on completing the assembly of the station, with crew rotations to continue to be performed by Soyuz spacecraft. NASA will also look into ways to accelerate the launch of the Kibo and Columbus laboratory modules for Japan and Europe, respectively.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, September 14
Avio launches pair of climate monitoring European spacecraft to study plants, oceans and atmospheric changes
Spaceflight Now — 12:00 am ET (0400 GMT) Human Spaceflight Key Agenda Item For ESA Intermediate Ministerial
Aviation Week — 11:58 pm ET (0358 GMT) FLEX and Sentinel-3C launched
ESA — 11:57 pm ET (0357 GMT) Starlink broadband pilot targets Lincolnshire's rural 'not spots'
BBC — 11:56 pm ET (0356 GMT) US military has ‘on-orbit’ space weapons, Air Force Secretary reveals
Defense One — 11:55 pm ET (0355 GMT) |
