NASA Weighs Options for Additional Crew Transportation for Spring Soyuz Mission to Space Station
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — A rotating crew of NASA and international astronauts have called the International Space Station home for more than 20 years. To ensure a consistent U.S. presence on the space station through the years, NASA has implemented safeguards to ensure crew transportation is always available.
NASA now is considering obtaining a supplemental seat on the upcoming spring Soyuz crew rotation mission for a NASA astronaut to add additional capability to the agency’s planning. The agency issued a public synopsis to identify all sources that potentially could provide the crew transportation service in the needed timeframe beyond the capability NASA already has in operation with the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
NASA has been working with Boeing and SpaceX to provide safe and reliable crew transportation to and from the International Space Station. The recent success of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission and the launch and docking of the Crew-1 mission have been significant milestones in providing reliable transportation to the space station on American commercial spacecraft from American soil. The upcoming NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission, as well as the second uncrewed flight test for Boeing’s Starliner demonstrate continued progress.
Securing an additional Soyuz seat assures the back-up capability of at least one U.S. crew member aboard the International Space Station in the event of a problem with either spacecraft. NASA is considering providing in-kind services for this supplemental crew transportation service, rather than an exchange of funds.
It has been NASA’s practice to fly mixed crews on spacecraft to ensure safe and continuous operations of the International Space Station. Due to operational constraints, crew members must fly to the station and return on the same spacecraft. The crew currently aboard the station (Kate Rubins and the Crew-1 astronauts) must return on Soyuz and Crew Dragon respectively in April/May. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 is expected to launch as planned April 20. However, if the mission launch is delayed or an event occurs while Crew-2 is in-orbit that requires a premature return, NASA risks not having a U.S. crew member aboard the International Space Station.
“At NASA, we have a phrase we use often – dissimilar redundancy. That’s NASA speak for saying we always have a back-up plan that ensures we have a path forward even if we encounter an issue with our initial approach,” said Robyn Gatens, acting director for the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters. “We look forward to the next crew rotation on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission, and we’re looking to ensure we can continue to maximize our use of the station and minimize any risk by flying a U.S. astronaut on the upcoming spring Soyuz by providing in-kind services.”
The space station has hosted 242 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. Astronauts and cosmonauts have traveled to and from the orbiting laboratory in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and NASA’s space shuttle until its retirement in 2011.
Via the public synopsis, NASA aims to determine whether any sources could provide the crew transportation service in the needed timeframe. Submissions are due by Feb. 19.
12 responses to “NASA Weighs Options for Additional Crew Transportation for Spring Soyuz Mission to Space Station”
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242 people have flown around, and around, and around, and around, the Earth. At a cost of billions to tell us what we knew from the start: microgravity is bad for you, radiation is bad for you. Nothing of value has ever come back down from space stations in the half a century they have been going around in endless circles. LEO is a dead end. Time to return to the prize we never should have taken our eyes off of.
The ISS should be decommissioned and that funding redirected to a lunar return.
gary. chill.
Before we go back to the moon, we need multiple ppl to be trained in LEO. The last thing that you want is to have real issues while at the moon. So, better to get private space stations going, train ppl for the moon and then go set up a base on the moon.
You whistle-blowing stupid troll. “Private space stations”….puh-leez.
gary, you need to grow up and BE NICE.
Doug is being nice in letting you back. Do not blow it by being your usual nasty self.
I consider it possible that the author of the Gary-Richard-etc comments cannot distinguish nice and has problems with reality. I quit trying to engage as I believe there is a mental handicap going on there that makes it wrong to pick on him as I would you when we disagree.
Yeah, but I figure that Doug will appreciate it if he does not have to boot the guy.
Far better to get Gary to grow up, and keep posting here, than it is to keep booting him off.
The in-kind services that the US should be providing Russia is seats on US commercial crew vehicles. It appears that Russia has not yet agreed to this. They were more than happy to fly cosmonauts on the US space shuttle.
They will come around. That is what this story is about, cajoling Russia to accept the new normal.
Except the behind-the-scenes cajoling evidently wasn’t going very well, hence this public announcement meant to apply pressure. I don’t think it actually applies very much and I don’t think the Russkies are likely to budge.
I regard this, by the way, as an entirely desirable state of affairs. No more non-Russian ISS partner nation astronauts should ever again fly on the drill-n-patch Soyuz.
Guess NASA has about the same level of trust in Boeing’s Starliner that the flying public has in Boeing’s B737 Max.?
max loads now are no different then previous B737’s
but yes I agree NASA seems to be “less confident” in boeings starliner. sigh boeing bought this one
NASA is hoping Roscosmos will accept the barter offer to trade seats. They are keeping the 4th seat on SpaceX Crew-3 open for now, ostensibly for a Russian cosmonaut if they sign on to the barter deal. So far NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer have been assigned.