2. The recent cancellation (oh, they say it's just on hold, but it's cancelled) of the X-38 derived CRV. Without this, there can never be more then 3 permanent crew on the station. WITH it, the crew increases to 7. 3 crew is just about what it takes to maintain the station. If there were 7, you could maintain the station AND do science.
As others have said, they didn't cancel the crew escape vehicle, but the 7-member habitation module. However, as they state here, the habitation module will probably get built by the Italian Space Agency. So, everything is not lost..
Slashdot Mirror
2. The recent cancellation (oh, they say it's just on hold, but it's cancelled) of the X-38 derived CRV. Without this, there can never be more then 3 permanent crew on the station. WITH it, the crew increases to 7. 3 crew is just about what it takes to maintain the station. If there were 7, you could maintain the station AND do science.
As others have said, they didn't cancel the crew escape vehicle, but the 7-member habitation module. However, as they state here, the habitation module will probably get built by the Italian Space Agency. So, everything is not lost..