NASA to Decide on ISS Crew Replacement in Next Few Days

A decision on how the crew, which is currently operating the International Space Station, ISS, will be replaced will be adopted in the next few days, NASA space agency chief Sean O'Keefe said Thursday as visiting the Stennis Space Centre in Mississippi. There is also to be decided whether the next crew will consist of three or two members and precisely when it is to be transported to the Station.

Mr O'Keefe said NASA was considering many options and would arrive at a final conclusion in the next few days.

The US Space.com electronic edition suggests that there will be two astronauts on the next ISS crew, who will be carried to the Station by a Russian Soyuz carrier-rocket in late April. Further on, crews of one American astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut will take 6-month shifts on board the ISS until the US resumes its space shuttle programme, writes Space.com.