NASA may be forced to evacuate the international space station unless its Russian partners can find a quick fix to a problem with their primary launch system.
That was the blunt message Monday from Mike Suffredini, the Houston-based manager of the orbiting laboratory.
“We’re going to do what’s safest for the crew and the space station,” Suffredini said.
The Russians have formed an investigative team to determine the cause of a rocket problem that led to the loss of an unmanned Progress space capsule last week.
The Soyuz space capsule, the only means NASA currently has to ferry astronauts to the space station, relies on similar launch technology.
Suffredini said that if the Russian rocket issue isn’t resolved by Nov. 16, the space station will have to be evacuated temporarily.
