Russia may cut crew on International Space Station | Science | The Guardian

Nine crew members on the International Space Station in August 2015 during a handover: from left, Scott Kelly, Kimiya Yui, Gennady Padalka, Sergey Volkov, Aidyn Aimbetov, Mikhail Kornienko, Oleg Kononenko, Andreas Mogensen and Kjell Lindgren. Photograph: AP

Russia may cut down its crew on the international space station from three to two as Moscow reviews its future involvement in the programme.

Typically six crew members live at the space station, which is meant to stay in operation until at least 2024.

Asked during a news conference about media reports that Russia was considering reducing its staff to two, Nasa’s Kenneth Todd said the ISS partners – which include Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency – were aware of the proposal.

“They are exploring the option of going down to two crew on the Russian segment,” said Todd, International Space Station operations integration manager.

“They have made that known to the partnership.”

Russian media reports have quoted a Roscosmos official as saying the proposal comes as Russia is sending fewer cargo ships to the ISS and could be a cost-cutting measure.

The United States is ramping up its supply missions to the orbiting lab, with US astronauts preparing to install a commercial docking adapter for use by private spacecraft.

Todd said the ISS partners were aware that Russia had committed to the ISS programme at least through 2024.

“There is no doubt they are keeping that in mind as they work through whatever challenges they have with their system,” Todd said.

“We will look at it, as we do with all these kinds of things. We will trade it against whatever risk that might put into the programme – first and foremost the risk to our crew on board and the station itself.”

Todd said the international partners would see “what we can do as a partnership to try to either accommodate it, or help them realise why that is a bad thing”.

“It is strictly a proposal they have put on the table and we will look at it.”

The first section of the ISS station, called Zarya, or Dawn in Russian, was launched into space on 20 November 1998.

From two modules the space station has grown to 15, occupying a space the size of an American football field and representing around $100bn in investment.

Since 2000 the station has been continuously occupied by a rotating staff of astronauts who typically stay for six months at a time before returning to Earth.

With Agence France-Presse

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/aug/16/russia-may-cut-crew-on-international-space-station