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Expanding space station becomes international goal
The Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The international space station could be expanded beyond its current three crew-member capacity by the end of the decade under an agreement reached Friday by the station's 16 partners.
The space station would house a permanent crew of as many as six members as early as January 2009.
The deal was reached at a meeting in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, by the heads of the space agencies involved in the station.
Many details still need to be worked out, including a construction schedule and the logistics of bringing more food, water and supplies for a larger crew. Also unknown are how the space station's systems would handle the extra crew and where extra supplies could be stored.
A crucial step toward increasing the crew size is the return to flight of NASA's space shuttle fleet, needed to carry parts up to the station to finish its construction. NASA plans the next shuttle flight next spring. But once the space station construction is complete in 2010, President Bush has called for the shuttles to be retired.
The shuttles have been grounded since last year after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas.
The Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The international space station could be expanded beyond its current three crew-member capacity by the end of the decade under an agreement reached Friday by the station's 16 partners.
The space station would house a permanent crew of as many as six members as early as January 2009.
The deal was reached at a meeting in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, by the heads of the space agencies involved in the station.
Many details still need to be worked out, including a construction schedule and the logistics of bringing more food, water and supplies for a larger crew. Also unknown are how the space station's systems would handle the extra crew and where extra supplies could be stored.
A crucial step toward increasing the crew size is the return to flight of NASA's space shuttle fleet, needed to carry parts up to the station to finish its construction. NASA plans the next shuttle flight next spring. But once the space station construction is complete in 2010, President Bush has called for the shuttles to be retired.
The shuttles have been grounded since last year after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas.
