ISS Crew Stuck In Orbit While Russia Assesses Rocket

astroengine sends word that the astronauts aboard the International Space Station will be staying up there longer than expected while engineers for Russia's space program try to figure out if it's safe to launch more rockets. The recent Russian cargo mission that spun out of control and eventually fell back into the atmosphere sparked worries that a vessel sent to retrieve the astronauts wouldn't make it all the way to the ISS's orbit. Roscosmos and NASA said the next rocket launch will be postponed at least two months. Even though the Russian cargo ship failed to reach the ISS, they have plenty of food, water, and air to last them to the next scheduled supply run — a SpaceX launch in late June.

Comments

Get SpaceX crew-rated soon.

[jpellino]

They're the closest next best backup for the Russian flights. Also they're not run by a government with a national leader who does bizarre things even by national leader standards. Yes, I understand that's not a tremendously high bar, but it's worth a look.

Re:Get SpaceX crew-rated soon.

[Dunbal]

While I am not an astronaut, the Kerbals have taught me that the tricky part of manned spaceflight is mostly the getting there. Coming back is pretty routine - in fact with just the tiniest amount of delta-v, it's unavoidable! I was under the impression that there is an "emergency" Soyuz capsule permanently docked at the ISS anyway for just this sort of contingency. But surely a "crew rating" would not be necessary to get an empty capsule using tried and tested tech (mercury, gemini, Apollo) up to them to ride back in. Oh, and GO KERBALS!

Re:Get SpaceX crew-rated soon.

[ColdWetDog]

Yes, they can get back on man rated Soyez. No booster required. But then the can't bring another crew up until the rescue capsule is replaced by - wait for it - another Russian booster.

Re:Get SpaceX crew-rated soon.

[gstoddart]

Coming back is pretty routine - in fact with just the tiniest amount of delta-v, it's unavoidable!

Sure, but presumably people mean safely.

Any clown can crash into the surface of the Earth in a spectacular fireball. I should think it's the keeping them alive part that's the tricky part.

Not stuck in orbit!

[hackertourist]

They have a Soyuz attached to the station and can use that to return to Earth if they need to.
They're just postponing a scheduled crew change, which is possible because despite the Progress failure, they still have enough supplies to last them until the next scheduled supply run.

Re:Elon Musk to the rescue once again

[TWX]

Apparently he can't land a rocket on a barge intact, but they're working on that.

Re:They can just drink sewage like in California

[__aaclcg7560]

The ISS is recycling California sewage in space? No wonder my sewage bill was so expensive in Silicon Valley.

Just like commercial airline delays

[Tablizer]

Houston Control: "...and, uh, your luggage went to Mars."

Re:Always have a redundancy

[TWX]

Wasn't one of the SpaceX Dragon capsules sent up as a supply ship to the station actually fully equipped with the necessary seating and everything? They're not certified for a crew yet, but I suspect if it came down to it, that certification could be obtained relatively quickly if the Russians suddenly proved incapable of ferrying passengers to the station.

honey, where'd you hide the spare key?

[Thud457]

If they vacate the premises, they might have to worry about squatters.

Full disclosure, I see no downside with Elon turning space pirate.

Re:What about the poo ?

[ColdWetDog]

Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space.

Douglas Adams

Coming this fall on TLC!!!!

[sconeu]

Space Squatters... The reality show that follows a bunch of ragtag astronauts who occupy the ISS and won't leave, as no evicting authority has jurisdiction!!

Fridays at 8, this fall on TLC!!!

Re:Elon Musk to the rescue once again

[peragrin]

Considering that no one else has tried and succeeded means he is closer than everyone else.

Now when he builds his own moon base can we call him an evil mastermind ?

Gee another NASA fail

[p51d007]

For not having their own "capsule" system, they shelved in the 70's. Should have NEVER stopped upgrading Apollo.

Re:Elon Musk to the rescue once again

[cjameshuff]

The drone platforms (there's one being built for the west coast too) will still be used for situations where the core doesn't have enough propellant to return to land. Especially the center core of Falcon Heavy launches that need to make a large plane change, as the cross-fed center core goes much further and faster than the side cores.

*sigh*

[jpellino]

The program was cancelled by the Bush II administration in 2004. The last flight happened while Obama was president, following a 1 year funding extension of funding authorized by congress in 2009 that made the last flight in 2011 rather than the originally scheduled 2010. If enough Americans told their senators and reps "I'll only vote for you if you get us another crew vehicle" we would have one in less than six years.