Yuri Koptev, director-general of the Russian Space Agency, has admitted that his country could be ousted from the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian energy module, the first element of the ISS, has been completed and will be launched on 27 November, but other hardware is behind schedule because of lack of funds.
Koptev says that 1,500 billion roubles ($267 million) is required in 1997 to enable Russia to continue work on the Alpha. NASA has already hinted that Russia could be relegated to a subcontractror level. Russia's service module, already eight months behind schedule, is being replaced by a US module.
NASA astronaut John Blaha has suffered severe return-to-Earth gravity problems after his 128 days on board the Russian Mir 1 space station, compared to the experience of Norman Thagard and Shannon Lucid, the previous US occupants of the station.
Blaha, who landed aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis/STS81 on 22 January, says that he felt he weighed "a thousand pounds" and was "absolutely stunned" at his condition. He could not raise his leg more than a few millimetres and was lifted out of the Shuttle.
Source: Flight International
