Space Station Called a Crowded Refuge for Shuttle
- From: Hal <hal@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 14:28:11 -0500
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=680578
Space Station Called a Crowded Refuge for Shuttle
Reuters
Apr. 18, 2005 - The International Space Station would be rather
cramped if ever called on to serve its new role as an emergency refuge
for a damaged NASA shuttle, the departing station commander said
Monday.
"Having the shuttle crew as well as the long-duration (space station)
crew members is going to be strain," NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao, who
plans to complete a six-month stay in orbit Saturday, said during an
in-flight news conference.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to resume
shuttle flights next month after a hiatus of more than two years
following the Feb. 1, 2003, disintegration of shuttle Columbia, which
killed all seven astronauts on board.
The U.S. space agency plans to temporarily house future shuttle crews
aboard the space station if their ships are too badly damaged to
return to Earth.
To prepare the station as a safe haven, NASA and its Russian partner
agency have begun stocking it with extra food, water, oxygen and other
critical supplies and spare parts.
Chiao, the station commander, and flight engineer Salizhan Sharipov,
Sunday welcomed their replacements, veteran cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev,
who assumes command of the outpost, and flight engineer John Phillips.
Traveling with the new station crew is Italian researcher Roberto
Vittori, who will return to Earth with Chiao and Sharipov on a Russian
spacecraft on April 24 following a weeklong visit.
"All of our major goals have been accomplished," Chiao told reporters
during a news conference via satellite. "The station is in good shape.
We're ready to come home."
The space station remains one short of the usual three-person crew
until the shuttle, which can ferry more supplies than the Russian
craft, resumes its missions servicing the space outpost.
In addition to maintaining the station and conducting science
experiments, Krikalev and Phillips are scheduled to play a critical
role in NASA's plan to return the shuttle fleet to flight.
Shuttle Discovery is targeted for launch between May 15 and June 3 on
the first mission since the accident.
Before Discovery docks at the station, shuttle commander Eileen
Collins plans to somersault the ship in front of the station so
Krikalev and Phillips can take images that engineers will scour for
signs of damage to the orbiter's heat shield.
The station crew also will help with inspections using a new 50-foot
sensor-laden boom attached to the shuttle's robot arm to inspect the
wings and other critical areas.
Columbia was destroyed because a piece of foam insulation fell off the
shuttle's external fuel tank during launch and smashed a hole in the
ship's left wing.
The damage went undetected until the shuttle attempted to glide
through the atmosphere. Hot gases ate into the wing and destroyed the
ship.
Of more immediate concern to the new station crew is figuring out
where things are.
"There's a lot more stuff here -- more equipment, more spare parts and
more trash that hasn't been able to go down (back to Earth) because of
a lack of shuttles," said Phillips, who visited the space station
during a shuttle mission four years ago.
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