How safe a haven?

Space station chief wary of haven plan
Fri Feb 4, 2005 5:16 AM GMT
By Irene Klotz
[EXCERPTS]

MELBOURNE, Florida (Reuters) - The International Space Station is not
ready to serve as a safe haven for shuttle crew members stranded by
ship damage, the Russian commander of the next station crew has said.

Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev said NASA's emergency plan for the crew of a
damaged space shuttle to take refuge on the orbiting station until a
rescue ship could be sent raised safety issues and he had pressed
managers on the issue.

"We need to prepare a backup plan for this backup scenario," said
Krikalev, 46, a veteran of three long-duration space flights and two
shuttle missions.

"It's going to be difficult. The station cannot stay in this
configuration for a long time," he said during a news conference at
Houston's Johnson Space Centre.

Managers are targeting the first post-Columbia shuttle mission for
launch in mid-May. Although the primary purpose of the Discovery flight
is to test in-flight heat shield repair techniques, the crew will
deliver critical equipment to the space station.

Some of the gear is to outfit the station to serve as a safe haven if
another shuttle is damaged.

Krikalev's chief concerns centre around adequate air, water and food
supplies, as well as how nine people would cope physically and mentally
in a small space for a prolonged time.

Access to the station's exercise equipment, which is critical during
long-duration space flight, would be limited.

"I've got assurance from station managers that everything necessary
needs to be done to make sure that this scenario would be avoided,"
Krikalev said.

Although NASA will have a second shuttle poised for launch in case of a
problem with Discovery, the agency would have to go ahead with the
mission well before an accident investigation or hardware modifications
could be made.

"If the situation which requires people to stay (aboard the station)
happened, it will be a very difficult decision to send another shuttle
to try to rescue them," Krikalev said.