NASA to send astronauts to ISS on Russian Soyuz spacecraft


MOSCOW, November 11 (RIA Novosti) - NASA intends to send astronauts to the
International Space Station and back to Earth using Russian Soyuz
spacecraft, the head of Russian space industry leader Energia Rocket and
Space Corporation said Friday.

"Earlier NASA had planned to use shuttles [to carry astronauts] but the
number of their flights were reduced from 28 to 17," Nikolai Sevastyanov
said. "Today NASA can buy Russian spacecraft... including Soyuz craft that
dock with the ISS once every six months, and are used as rescue
spacecraft."

Speaking on the Clipper reusable spacecraft project, Sevastyanov said,
"This new space system allows Russia to form a new market for space
flights."

Russia will be able to send foreign astronauts and tourists to space using
Clipper spacecraft, he said.

"There are several hundred millionaires in the world who are fond of
extreme tourism and would like to fly to space on the Clipper,"
Sevastyanov said. However, health requirements on people traveling into
space need to be relaxed, he said.

The use of the more comfortable and technically advanced Clipper will cut
the time of preparations for a space flight, he said. "Today 1.5 years is
needed to train an astronaut for a Soyuz flight, but it will take only
three months to prepare an unprofessional passenger for a Clipper flight."

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051111/42060863.html


##-----------------------------------------------##
Article posted with MyNewsGroups :)
http://mynewsgroups.sourceforge.net
Share your knowledge in... sci.space.station
##-----------------------------------------------##
.

Relevant Pages
Loading