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WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe told Congress Thursday morning that the two astronauts and one cosmonaut living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will come home when a two-person replacement crew arrives in late April or early May in a fresh Russian Soyuz vehicle.
The new crew, OKeefe said, will have enough provisions to last until June. Thats when a Russian Progress supply ship is scheduled to launch, laden with enough food, water, fuel, and other provisions, for the caretaker crew to remain on orbit through at least October.
OKeefe said that if for some reason the Progress ship doesnt make it to the station -- due either to a launch failure or technical problems that would prevent it from docking -- the crew would dim the lights and use the Soyuz vehicle docked at the station to return to Earth.
OKeefe said the plan was agreed to Wednesday by NASA and its 16 partners in the ISS program.
The disclosure came at the beginning of a Congressional hearing convened to discuss NASA's 2004 budget request. However, most lawmakers were more interested in asking questions about the Columbia accident investigation and NASA's plans for operating the station wihile the shuttle fleet remains grounded.
Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Tex.) announced during the Feb. 27 NASA budget hearing here before the House Science Committee he is introducing legislation that would amend the Iran Non Proliferation Act of 2000 to permit NASA to buy Soyuz and Progress vehicles from Russia if the White House notifies Congress the vehicles are needed to continue space station operations while the space shuttle remains grounded.
The Iran Act, as written, permits a one-time exception to be made if Russian vehicles are needed to ensure the health and safety of crew members living aboard the station. The law would not permit NASA to buy Russian vehicles merely to keep the space station occupied, congressional and other U.S. government sources maintain.
OKeefe testified that he does not believe that NASA will require any waiver to the Iran Act because, as he put it, the partners are acting like partners.
He said that the European Space Agency, for example, continuing to make payments to Russia even though they have temporarily given up seats reserved for European astronauts on the two Soyuz missions planned for this year. At the same time, the Russian Aviation and Space Agency has taken steps with its government to ensure that it has funding it needs early this year to keep Progress supply ships in production.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee, said that before Congress changes the Iran Act, the United States ought to explore giving Russia financial incentive to cease giving assistance to Iran.
Rohrabacher said he has talked with Russian government officials and members of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush about encouraging Russian companies to stop helping Iran build a nuclear reactor by offering them the opportunity to build nuclear power plans in India and Turkey instead, presumably financed in large part by the United States.
Rohrabacher said that the alternative proposed by Lampson should be taken seriously if the United States cannot come up with a way to encourage Russia to give up what Rohrabacher termed lucrative contracts with Iran.
Lampson said he feels his legislation would give NASA a much-needed option for keeping station safely occupied. Better to act now than in a crisis, he said.
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