A NASA
astronaut riding aboard the International Space Station (ISS) said Wednesday that
he is not concerned with his eventual return to Earth, despite questions over which
spacecraft will transport home back from the orbital laboratory.
"I'm not
really so worried about coming back," ISS Expedition
12 commander Bill McArthur told the Associated Press via a video interview
on NASA TV. "I know that NASA is putting a lot of effort into it."
McArthur is
slated to return to Earth with Expedition 12 flight engineer Valery Tokarev
aboard the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft that delivered the two astronauts and U.S.
space tourist Gregory
Olsen to the ISS on Oct. 3. NASA officials, however, said there is some flexibility
in that plan should a U.S. space shuttle be ready to fly in the spring of 2006.
Recent Gulf
Coast hurricanes
and ongoing external
tank work have delayed
the launch of NASA's second return to flight shuttle mission, STS-121 aboard
Discovery. The spaceflight is expected to launch some time next spring.
Before
launching toward the space station, McArthur had hoped to
spend about 213 days in orbit and return aboard a U.S. space shuttle in May 2006,
about one month after Tokarev left the station aboard Soyuz TMA-7.
"If I don't
make it back in April, I've already told my wife that she's going to have to
file for an extension on our income tax return," McArthur said. "But we'll
cross that bridge when we come to it."
McArthur
added that he'd welcome the opportunity to return to Earth with Tokarev after
spending years training with the Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut for
their ISS mission.
Changing
the ISS guard
McArthur
and Tokarev are taking over ISS control from Expedition
11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips.
Phillips told
the Associated Press that he felt the Expedition 11 flight - which saw
the first space shuttle visit
to the ISS since December 2002 - has gone smoothly, but looks forward to the
everyday sights and sounds of Earth.
"It's been
a lot of fun, a big adventure and everything I hoped for," said Phillips, who
is concluding his first long-duration spaceflight with Expedition 11. "But it's
time to come home."
Phillips
and McArthur are spending this week going over station handover procedures with
their crewmates. Both NASA astronauts said that although current ISS
expeditions are set at six-month intervals, they could personally envision
spending one or more years aboard the orbital platform.
"The
biggest psychological issue is how your family is faring back home," Phillips
said, adding that he's missed attending his children's soccer games and orchestra performances during his time on orbit. "I don't want to miss those
family events."
Phillips,
Krikalev and Olsen will return to Earth on Oct. 10 aboard their Soyuz TMA-6
spacecraft.
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