PARIS -- NASA Administrator Sean OKeefe on Tuesday suggested that the International Space Station can be operated and produce sufficient science with far fewer than the six or seven astronauts initially planned.
In a press conference during the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany, OKeefe raised the possibility that the orbital complex will never see the crew complement originally planned.
"Before the Columbia tragedy, everyone assumed you needed 2.5 people just to operate the station," OKeefe said, referring to the Feb. 1 mishap that grounded all shuttle flights.
"Well, weve been operating it now for several months with two people, and they have also yielded a significant scientific contribution." O'Keefe said.NASA officials are scheduled to meet with their Russian, European, Japanese and Canadian space station partners Oct. 18 in Moscow to determine how much more capacity the station needs after its core construction is complete.
Several of NASAs partners have expressed concern that the U.S. space agency, to save money, will not pursue station construction beyond this core-complete stage, meaning that the permanent crew size would be limited to three astronauts.
For Europe, Japan and Canada -- who currently have no means of independently transporting crews to the station -- this would sharply reduce the amount of time their astronauts would spend in space.
These nations had entered the space station partnership assuming that a six- or seven-member crew would give them a regular astronaut presence. Such a presence still is considered a political necessity to persuade their governments to support the station financially.
OKeefe said astronaut levels should be limited to the minimum needed to perform science on the station and to maintain the facility.
"The number of crew should be based on the demands of experimentation, and nothing more," OKeefe said. "The idea of sending people there for its own sake -- its got to have a justification. Theres no pat answer on what the crew size will be."
Once NASAs remaining space shuttles return to flight and resume transport of station hardware, it will take about 18 months to reach core-complete status, including the attachment of European and Japanese laboratories to the station, OKeefe said.
OKeefe also said plans to resume shuttle flights next summer are based on a rough calculation of the technical work required on the three remaining shuttles to comply with recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
He insisted that the next flight might not occur until later if what he called NASAs "human failings" and shuttle oversight problems have not been addressed.
"The shuttle remains an experimental vehicle," OKeefe said.
"All 113 flights it has made were experimental -- each had a unique configuration. We havent seen the same two flights, ever. It will remain an experimental vehicle probably until the day its retired. If we ever thought the contrary, the question was answered on Feb. 1. Delays are about diligence, not laziness. There will be delays and deferrals... of future flight schedules."
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