Russian Space Agency spokesman Sergei Gorbunov called rumors that Russian cosmonauts currently training for a contingency mission may be also secretly preparing for a long-term occupation of the orbital facility "total nonsense."

A Russian back up crew scheduled to standby during the first main expedition to the International Space Station has received extended training in an underwater lab used to simulate weightlessness.

If the automatic docking between currently orbiting elements of the station and a new Russian module Zvezda planned for launch on November 12 fails, these cosmonauts would be responsible for completing the docking manually.

Gorbunov said that the Russian plans were coordinated with NASA and other partners in the project, and that the mission would not take place unless the docking failure actually occurs.

Gorbunov suggested that the rumors have political motivation and that they are intended to disrupt cooperation in space between Russia and the U.S.