In article 55eb8e90-971e-40fa-b323-87d265203f12
@t3g2000vbe.googlegroups.com, says...

is it better to have a unmanned station with no control dropping
modules all along its ground track.

or 1 or 2 astronauts marroned at station thats still under control?

Leaving the station unmanned for a period of time is surely safer, at
least for the ISS crew.

Jeff

for the crew surely safer to be on the ground, but what of all the
people along its ground track?

ISS isn't going to fall out of the sky anytime soon. If the crew does
leave ISS, they'll leave it in a state where unmanned vehicles can still
dock with it and perform reboosts (Progress and ATV can both perform
reboosts).

Besides, how many people on the ground have been killed or injured by
falling space debris? I'm betting it is pretty close to zero.

Jeff
--
" Ares 1 is a prime example of the fact that NASA just can't get it
up anymore... and when they can, it doesn't stay up long. "
- tinker