Launch of Space Station Crews Delayed 45 Days
13:57 31/01/2012 MOSCOW, January 31 (RIA Novosti) - The launch of two new crews to the International Space Station (ISS) will be postponed by about 45 days over the need to build a reserve capsule, a Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) official said on Tuesday.
It was earlier announced that three new crew members - Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin and Joseph Acaba - were scheduled to launch on March 30 and dock two days later, bringing the station’s crew back up to six. However, the launch was delayed over faults in the capsule’s assembly.
Alexei Krasnov, head of manned flight programs, said the launch will be delayed by 30 to 45 days and that they exact date would be clarified after a video conference with NASA officials.
Testing on Sunday discovered an air leak in the capsule.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
