NASA Consider "Demanning" Space Station

Heartbreak writes "James Oberg, in an article for MSNBC, says that NASA is making contingency plans to leave the International Space Station without a permanent crew for up to a year if the Russians can't deliver the required Soyuz and Progress spacecraft to support it. A serviceable Soyuz is required to evacuate the crew in an emergency when the US Shuttle isn't there, and Progress is needed for resupply. The Russian space program is doddering on the edge of financial collapse after several recent setbacks, including the failure of Lance Bass to pay up. What SF writer could have imagined that humanity's dream of exploring space would be brought to the edge of extinction by the financial irresponsibility of a pop music star? It would be a boring and depressing story, at best." Of course, some would argue that the space station was a boondoogle to start with.

Comments

Re:geesh

[medcalf]

I have to wonder, who made the decision to depend upon the russians for financial support.

Largely, that would be Al Gore. Basically, the commission he headed, filled with experts who made their living from NASA, reported to NASA's administrator with Gore leading the meetings and such. Unsurprisingly, they came up with the notion that NASA was perfect, and if they only had more money, all problems would disappear...

On top of this, for purely political reasons, it was decided to redesign the ISS (Freedom, at the time?) to depend upon Russian components for its construction and operation (makes the Russians happy), to maximize use of the Shuttle fleet (makes NASA happy), and to forego cheaper and more capable alternatives, like building a big rocket and launching a station as a single piece (no established constituency), which would have the bonus effect of giving you a heavy-lift booster to use for other stuff, like going to the Moon or Mars.

somebody oughta get fired for this one....

I guess you could say that, though more for general incompetence than for this specific issue, he did.