Scientific research conducted by the new International Space Station (ISS) Expedition Crew will be reduced by 25% as a result of the failure of the European Space Agency's Microgravity Science Glovebox. The sixth crew to operate aboard the ISS boarded the station on 25 November and is due to be replaced in early March, and the glovebox cannot be repaired until a Russian Progress resupply mission is launched in February.
The glovebox was to have been used for about 200h during the crew's stay on the station, mainly by science officer Don Pettit. The loss of time is a blow to NASA, which is touting the ISS as a microgravity science research base.
This is the second setback for the latest crew, as a potential "medical issue" has forced the delay of a spacewalk outside the ISS until January. The issue, which NASA says will have no impact on the mission, emerged during routine medical testing aboard the station.
The Russian Space and Aviation Agency, meanwhile, says its ISS partners will pay for the production of four rather than two $8 million Soyuz TMA spacecraft a year beginning in 2006-07, to enable an expanded six-person crew to work aboard the orbiting base. Two Soyuz TMAs would be attached to the station at all times to act as crew emergency return vehicles.
Each Soyuz launch is reported to cost about $40 million, and the space agency says it may not have the funds to meet the increased crew commitment. Agency chief Yuri Koptev says he will "try to convince" the Moscow government to provide $300 million over the next three years to preserve Russia's role in the ISS.
A non-ISS Space Shuttle mission, STS 107-Columbia, is scheduled for launch on 16 January carrying a seven-member crew - including the first astronaut from Israel - on the 16-day Freestar science research flight, using a double Spacehab module.
Source: Flight International
