A bit mo

-------------------------------

Feb. 3, 2005, 9:33PM
Cosmonaut questions space shuttle strategy
NASA says it will keep crew size at seven for its upcoming mission
By MARK CARREAU
Houston Chronicle

Months before Discovery is scheduled to lift off, Sergei
Krikalev, who becomes the station skipper in late April,
has asked NASA to consider cutting Discovery's crew from
seven to four. And if Columbia-like shuttle damage
forces an emergency rescue, he thinks two Soyuz capsules
could do it quicker than one U.S. backup shuttle.

"As soon as I knew the shuttle would fly during my
(command), it became my duty to work up all of these
options to be sure I would not be faced with two bad
scenarios, and that is why I talked about this," Krikalev
said Thursday during a news conference at Johnson Space
Center discussing the six-month space station mission
he'll share with American John Phillips.

"It's my concern, and I feel it's my duty."

The odds of a serious problem are low, admits Krikalev,
who has spent 17 months in space. But he noted the outpost
has struggled to sustain even its two-man U.S. and Russian
crews since the loss of Columbia two years ago grounded
NASA's shuttle fleet.

NASA intends to stick with its plans for a seven-member
crew on Discovery's mission, NASA spokesman James
Hartsfield said Thursday.

"I believe the NASA management knows exactly what the
risks are," Phillips said.

With a shuttle crew of four, Krikalev says Russians could
rescue all six space station crew members by launching a
three-man Soyuz rescue capsule to join another Soyuz
already parked at the outpost. With a larger Discovery
crew, NASA would have to launch a backup shuttle or ask
nine people to share the station's cramped quarters for
months, he said.

--------------------------------------------------------



Question: Why not use the one presumably available Soyuz
(besides the docked life-boat one) to reduce a crew of
nine to six, thus buying some time?