The International Space Station's (ISS) sixth expedition crew will return to Earth in late April or early May using the docked Russian Soyuz TMA. A two-person maintenance-only crew comprising astronaut Ed Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko will replace them. NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe says the decision will conserve supplies aboard the ISS.
Space agencies are assuming a worst-case scenario that NASA's Space Shuttle fleet will be grounded for 18 months after the loss of Columbia. Although the TMA will be the ISS crew's only means of escape, the vehicle's propellant degrades in space so it must be replaced every six months. The next Progress unmanned resupply flight is set for June. If this flight does not take place due to lack of funding, O'Keefe says, "we'll ask the two-man crew to dim the lights and come home". He says the $95 billion station could operate without a crew for up to 18 months if TMA and Progress flights continued on schedule.
Source: Flight International
