According to Space.com, NASA officials announced this morning the ISS might be de-crewed (unmanned) staring in November due to the recent Progress launch vehicle failure. This scenario could happen if Russia’s space program is not underway again by that time.
However, there is no need to panic. Ground crews are more than able to operate the space station’s systems with no crew members aboard for an extended period.
…So yeah, anyway, more of what we already know. We’ve all had sort of a difficult last week – I certainly did – so here’s a cute picture of Gemini 3 to make us all feel a bit more cheery.
Gemini 3 crew Gus Grissom and John Young, 1965, from Life magazine.
UPDATE 9:25 PM EDT: Evidently the problem with the Soyuz rocket was caused by a gas generator failure in its third stage engine, according to Russian news sources.
Emily Carney is a writer, space enthusiast, and creator of the This Space Available space blog, published since 2010. In January 2019, Emily’s This Space Available blog was incorporated into the National Space Society’s blog. The content of Emily’s blog can be accessed via the This Space Available blog category.
Note: The views expressed in This Space Available are those of the author and should not be considered as representing the positions or views of the National Space Society.
1 thought on “ISS Update: August 29, 2011”
Aaaaaaaaaah! So cute!