7 shuttle fliers plus 6 station guys equal record
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- NASA is aiming to launch the space shuttle on Saturday morning to the international space station for a long, laborious construction job. When Endeavour pulls up, there will be 13 people at the station — the most people ever together in space at one time.
Complicating matters is that the six station tenants are still getting used to having twice as many people around. Now they're getting seven house guests who will stay for nearly two weeks.
Everyone — astronauts and managers alike — agrees it will be a challenge managing so many people. Just last week, space station resident Bob Thirsk said coordinating this first new crew of six was "a little bit like herding cats."
But NASA has little choice but to hurry things along, if it hopes to finish the space station by the end of next year. The countdown began Wednesday, and good weather is forecast for Saturday.
Space shouldn't be a problem. With nine rooms, two toilets, two kitchens and two mini-gyms, the nearly completed orbiting complex can accommodate 13, at least temporarily. Plus there's a bathroom, kitchen and exercise equipment on the visiting shuttle.
NASA's biggest concern is keeping the communication loops clear, especially during the five planned spacewalks.
Imagine 13 people in your house, all doing something different and having questions, said flight director Holly Ridings.
"If you're the one single person in that house who can answer all of the questions, such as one of the control centers on the ground, well, you can't all ask those questions at the same time," she said.
Together, the astronauts will add the final segment to the huge Japanese lab, store big spare parts to the outside of the station, and change out batteries and perform other maintenance work. All three robotic arms, two on the station, will be required.
The 13 space travelers represent all the major space station partners: seven from the United States, two each from Russia and Canada, and one each from Belgium and Japan.
