Posted: Tue, Apr 20, 2004, 10:44 AM ET (1444 GMT)
NASA rejected Monday a Russian request to have the next ISS expedition remain on the station an extra year so that Russia can sell extra seats on a Soyuz taxi flight. Russian officials proposed last month that the Expedition 10 crew, scheduled to fly to the station in October, remain on the station for a full year as opposed to the normal six months. This would allow Russia to sell an additional seat on the April 2005 Soyuz taxi flight to a paying customer, such as a space tourist or European astronaut, since the spacecraft would not have to carry a two-man replacement crew. However, NASA officials said in a statement Monday that because the station is in a 'reduced operational state', it would not be appropriate to have a crew remain on the station for a full year. The statement also noted that the station doesn't have sufficient countermeasures in place to handle the effects of that long a stay in weightlessness on the human body. NASA did say it was open to longer crew stays at some point in the future, however.
