Cosmonaut Worried About NASA Shuttle Plans

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2005 — -- Sergei Krikalev, one of Russia's most experienced cosmonauts, is worried about NASA's contingency plan when the U.S. shuttles start flying again this spring.

If something goes wrong on a future shuttle flight and the crew has to abandon ship in space, NASA's plan is for them to seek refuge on the International Space Station until another shuttle can be launched to rescue them.

It's been two years since a space shuttle has flown. All shuttle flights were halted after disaster struck on Feb. 1, 2003, when Columbia broke apart while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board.

Investigators proved that a 1.67-pound piece of foam, which broke off the shuttle's external tank and smashed into its left wing almost 82 seconds after the launch, created a hole that allowed superhot gases to penetrate the wing on re-entry.

During the long investigation, many investigators wondered what might have happened if NASA had known about the hole in the wing. Could the agency have launched a rescue mission? Could the astronauts have fixed the hole in the left wing?

NASA has a long list of recommendations it is fulfilling before it flies a shuttle again. One of those is planning for a rescue mission should one be necessary. Under the plan, a crew of four would be ready to launch to the space station to bring a stranded crew back on another shuttle.

NASA is planning to launch another shuttle mission on May 14. In a mission designated STS 114, the shuttle Discovery will fly to the International Space Station with a seven-person crew.

Krikalev, who was a member of the space station's first permanent crew in 2000 and 2001, is taking command of the station this April. He told reporters at the Johnson Space Center on Thursday that he is deeply concerned about the viability of using the space station as a refuge for a shuttle crew.

"If there were two bad accidents in a row, and something happened to the next shuttle, Discovery, I would be concerned about launching a third shuttle, Atlantis, on a rescue mission," he said. "I think we would have enough food and water on the space station, but I am not sure about the health and well-being of keeping nine people on the space station that long."

With the shuttle out of service, the space station has limped along with limited supplies of water, food and spare parts. In December, food was rationed for the two-person crew. Krikalev worries the space station cannot provide life support for nine people for up to 35 days. He has suggested to NASA that they consider reducing the size of the next crew from seven to four.

He reasons that if something did happen, both the shuttle crew and the station crew would have a way back to Earth using the Soyuz craft that is always docked to the space station, plus another Soyuz that could be launched to the space station.

Astronaut John Phillips, who will be Krikalev's crewmate on the space station, said that while he appreciates the veteran cosmonaut's concerns, he doesn't worry about hosting an extra seven people on the station in an emergency.

"Our management knows that keeping a crew of nine on board for an extended period is not something that's easy and it's not something that should be entered into lightly," Phillips said. "So I believe that the NASA management knows exactly what the risks are, and they're going to look out for us."

Krikalev and Phillips, along with European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, will launch in a Soyuz from Kazakhstan on April 15 and stay on the International Space Station through the middle of October.