Space Program / Shuttle Fleet Grounds; NASA: There is no danger to the station crew; Russia: You can forget about the development of the station until the launches resume
The current crew of the International Space Station: in front, astronaut Donald Pettit, on the left, cosmonaut Nikoli Bodarin and astronaut Ken Bowersox.
An unmanned Russian Progress resupply spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station on Tuesday, carrying supplies of food and fuel for the two American astronauts and their commander, a Russian cosmonaut.
The current team includes Americans Donald Pettit and Ken Bowersox and their Russian commander Nikoli Bodarin.
Said was to return to Earth next month aboard the shuttle Atlantis. Therefore, the current astronauts will probably use three months' worth of supplies, and their replacements will be delayed on Earth because the shuttle is grounded.
This was supposed to be the most fruitful year of the "shuttle program" into space. In the five flights planned for 2003, astronauts were supposed to establish the International Space Station, which was inaugurated about two years ago. However, the explosion of the "Columbia" ferry yesterday changed the plans completely. "Currently - until we establish ourselves and understand what caused Columbia to explode - we will stop future flights to space," said Ron Ditmore, director of NASA's shuttle program, at a press conference held yesterday in Houston. "These are going to be very difficult times and they will be even more complicated mainly because of the space station," Richard Trolli, a former astronaut who was among the investigators of the "Challenger" disaster and who ran NASA between 1992-1989.
Space experts estimated yesterday that the immediate and prominent consequences of the Columbia disaster on the American space program will be felt in the International Space Station, which is being built in space. The explosion of Columbia, along with seven members of its crew, occurred just as NASA and its partners from European countries, Canada, Japan and Russia were planning to expand the station. However, experts and officials at NAS told reporters yesterday that the Columbia disaster will delay the further construction of the station.
NASA's shuttle fleet is the primary supply vehicle for the station. In recent years, most of the shuttle flights - except for the Columbia flights, which for technical reasons could not dock at the station - focused on bringing and returning astronauts from the station.
In 1986, after "Challenger" exploded, NASA stopped launching the shuttles for 32 months, but then it was not officially committed to other countries. However, the current delay will have an impact not only on the US, but also on its 15 partners, whose contribution to the construction of the station depends on each other - and crucially on US ferries, which is leading the project.
There are three people on the space station: two Americans - crew chief Kenneth Bowersock, who is on his fifth space flight; and flight engineer Dr. Donald Pettit, who is making his first flight; And Russian - the flight engineer, Nikolai Budarin. The team arrived at the station on November 23, 2002 aboard the ferry "Endeavour" and is performing maintenance work. A new team - aboard "Atlantis" - is supposed to replace them on March 1 and bring scientific equipment with them. But now the flight is being reconsidered.
NASA wanted to emphasize that the delay of the shuttle flights to space does not endanger the crew staying at the station. According to them, the team has no shortage of food and equipment. The supply was renewed last night with the launch of "Progress", an unmanned supply spacecraft launched by the Russians from Kazakhstan, with the help of which the astronauts will be able to stay on the station until June.
"The station crew is safe and will be able to return to Earth at any time," said a message published yesterday by NASA. According to the agency, even though the shuttle fleet is grounded, the three astronauts will be able to return to Earth aboard a Russian rescue vehicle that is docked in the shuttle regularly and is on standby for such cases.
The establishment of the space station began as a multinational vision, based on cooperation between rich countries. The station was launched into space in 1998, as mentioned, it was officially inaugurated about two years ago, and is still under construction. Over the years, the total cost of its establishment increased and even reached annual budget exceedances totaling five billion dollars. Upon completion of its construction - approximately 20 additional flights will be required for this - the station is to be used as a laboratory complex weighing approximately 500 tons. According to the plan, industrial and academic experiments will be carried out in it.
In the five flights planned this year, astronauts were supposed to transfer components to expand the basic skeleton of the station, carry additional solar panels for energy production, and in November, for the first time since the Challenger disaster, send a teacher into space - the American Barbara Morgan - as an educational value.
If NASA's shuttles are shut down for months, or even years, construction of the station will come to a halt. According to experts, the station's fate depends on these shuttles because essential parts of the station are too large to fit the Russian launch vehicles. Marsha Smith, an aerospace expert from the US Congressional Research Service, told CBS News yesterday that it is unlikely that Russia will be able to fill the space created.
"The space in a Russian cargo spacecraft is much smaller than in a shuttle," she said. A shuttle can carry equipment weighing 100 kg, while a "Progress" supply spacecraft, like the one launched yesterday, can carry up to 5,000 kg.
Although Russia destroyed the Russian space station "Mir" in 2001 and focused its limited resources on the space station, the agency is subject to an ongoing budget crisis; She is so tight on budget that she has offered $20 million space trips to help finance her expenses.
According to the spokesman of the Russian space agency, Sergey Gubunov, the agency is ready for the time being to carry out some "limited missions" with Russian spacecraft - including unmanned cargo spacecraft and a capsule carrying astronauts - but its budget will not allow it to carry out real construction missions. "You can forget about further construction of the station until the resumption of launches of American ferries," said Gubunov. "There is currently no inventory of "Soyuz" spacecraft (manned spacecraft, which can be used only once - XNUMX). If NASA plans to use a Soyuz spacecraft for the space station, it will have to purchase it and wait two years until it is built."
One of the tasks performed by the shuttles that arrive at the station is to raise the station to its optimal orbit around the Earth. "It can be done with Russian spacecraft or with propellers," said John Petty of NASA's Johnson Space Center. "This is an essential task", he says, "because every day the station sinks several hundred meters".
Russia: We will not send tourists into space
Following the "Columbia" disaster, the decision is valid "until further notice"; Launch cost for private individuals: about 20 million dollars; Two businessmen have already visited the space; In April we were going to send another person
By: Walla system!
The Russian space agency has announced that it will suspend its intention to send tourists on paid visits to the International Space Station. The Russians came to a decision after the Columbia space shuttle disaster. The spokesman for the Russian space agency, Sergey Gorbanov, said that the renewal of the expensive initiative depends on when the US intends to resume sending its shuttles into space.
The BBC reported that the announcement was made at a special Russian-American ceremony held at the Korolev control center in memory of those who perished in the Columbia disaster. The American ambassador, Alexander Varshbaugh, told the participants of the ceremony that Russia and the USA should continue their cooperation on the International Space Station.
Gorbanov also said that all commercial flights into space, including tourist flights, have been postponed to an unknown destination. He also said that the US may ground its space shuttles for a year or two.
Two businessmen from the USA and South Africa have already visited the International Space Station for a fee. In May 2001, Dennis Tito, 60, a financial expert and former space scientist, paid $20 million for an eight-day trip outside the atmosphere. A year later, multi-millionaire Mark Shuttleworth did it.
Yuri Semyonov, who heads the government company that builds the Russian spaceships, said that in April of this year they intended to send another tourist into space, but this plan was canceled.
Among those wishing to visit the space was also the pop star, Lance Bass, from the boy band "An-Sync". Bass wanted to join the Russian cosmonaut expedition into space in October and even agreed to pay more than 21 million dollars for the trip. He finally abandoned the program after he was unable to meet the payment.
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