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New Space Station Crew Faces 2-Day Launch Delay

Posted on: Thursday, 23 September 2004, 06:00 CDT

Sep. 23--A new international space station crew will leave two days later than scheduled next month to accommodate repairs to the docking system, Russia's space agency said Wednesday.

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying American Leroy Chiao and Russian Salizhan Sharipov will launch just before midnight on Oct. 10 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said.

Officials delayed the liftoff and ensuing return of the current station crew after docking system problems last week forced them to replace damaged components.

Russian Gennady Padalka and American Mike Fincke are scheduled to return to Earth on Oct. 19 after six months in the space station. Russian spacecraft have carried crews to and from the station since the Columbia space shuttle disaster in February 2003.

Meanwhile, Padalka and ground-based experts are still trying to fix the space station's Russian-made oxygen generator that hasn't worked for weeks.

Padalka installed a new internal pump on Friday, but the generator shut down again as late as Wednesday. The space station has a five-month backup supply of oxygen.

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