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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. |
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