Iss Project Participants To Meet July 29
Posted on: Wednesday, 9 July 2003, 06:00 CDT
MOSCOW. July 8 (Interfax) - The nations taking part in the International Space Station (ISS) project will hold a meeting in the United States on July 29, Mikhail Sinelshchikov, head of the manned space programs department of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos), told Interfax on Tuesday.
Sinelshchikov said that during this meeting, U.S. officials will present the results of the investigation into the space shuttle Columbia's disaster and announced the date for resuming shuttle flights.
Rosaviakosmos predicts that "the shuttle program may resume in early 2004, in the first quarter, or in mid 2004."
"Shuttle flights will not be resumed at the end of this year. We are aware of the situation. This is impossible, even in theory," he said.
The Rosaviakosmos official noted that Russia is building an extra Progress supply ship, which will be launched this year. In addition, another Russian supply ship will travel to the ISS next year. No additional launches of manned spaceships are planned.
"In order to finish the construction of additional spaceships, it is necessary to secure more funds as early as this August or September," Sinelshchikov added.
Asked whether the ISS project is financed at the expense of other Russian space programs, he said that "the ISS receive funds from a separate budget source and has no links to other programs."
The Gehman commission is expected to complete the investigation into the Columbia catastrophe on July 15 and present its recommendations. The most likely theory is the disaster was caused by a piece of insulation foam which broke away from the shuttle's external fuel tank during takeoff and hit the left wing. Experts came to the conclusion that this damaged the wing's thermal tiles, exposing the shuttle to high temperatures during descent.
The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in mid-air on February 1, killing all crew members on board.
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