spacetoday.net: Future ISS crew to spend year in space

Posted: Sat, Oct 6, 2012, 10:09 AM ET (1409 GMT)
ISS during STS-135 mission (NASA)

The partners in the International Space Station program have approved plans to have two future crewmembers spend a year on the station starting in early 2015. A NASA astronaut and a Roscosmos cosmonaut will start their year-long stay on the ISS in the spring of 2015 to study the health and crew performance issues of such an extended stay. Typically, ISS crewmembers spend no more than six months in space at a time, although in the past Russians on the former Mir space station have spent over a year in space. Neither NASA nor Roscosmos have announced who will be on the year-long mission. The extended stay on the ISS will also free up seats on Soyuz spacecraft going to and from the ISS, allowing Russia to sell those seats to space tourists. One of those seats could be going to singer Sarah Brightman, with an announcement about a potential trip to the ISS planned for October 10 in Moscow.