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The International Space Station (ISS) could run out of crew on board in November after the crash of an unmanned Russian Progress cargo ship that crashed last week by missing his booster, as recognized by a NASA spokesman.

The problem is that the Soyuz manned spacecraft, with which they are made crew changes, using rockets very similar, so if the fault is not resolved before that date, six residents have returned in the two Soyuz are coupled as a 'lifeline to the ISS and have not reached their relays.

"We will do what is safest for the crew and the space station," which could be operated temporarily from the ground, said today at a news conference program director of NASA's ISS, Mike Suffredini.

The accident has forced the restructuring of the release schedule because the Russian authorities have decided to suspend the Soyuz carrier rockets and change the flight schedule to and from the ISS.
Missions delayed

Was scheduled to return to September 8 Earth three of the six current crew of the space laboratory and the other three on 16 November. However, his return has been postponed until September 19, it is the only opportunity to land in daylight on the steppes of Kazakhstan in that month.

If not possible, then, the next opportunity would occur on October 27, ten days after the six months established orbital life of the Soyuz.

Between the two missions back in the calendar was the launch on September 22, another Russian spacecraft with a crew of three replacement of the first group but has been postponed several weeks.

Suffredini said that Russian authorities want to ensure that there is a similar problem in the Soyuz rocket and said that if the fault is not resolved before November 16 and it is not possible to travel safely to the ISS, the complex space will be temporarily displaced.
Ships 'lifeline'

The space station currently has two of these ships docked as a safety measure in case the crew had to be evacuated in an emergency. Another problem is that Suffredini said that the Soyuz are designed to be a maximum of six months docked to the station, so the return trip from November 16 could delay no longer.

The spacecraft Progress M-12M crashed minutes after its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) with about three tons of cargo (food, water, oxygen, fuel and scientific equipment) for the ISS.

If Roscosmos can solve the problem of the rocket, NASA wants the space agency launched the next Russian Progress ship with a new shipment in mid-October.

This mission will serve intermediate Roscosmos and NASA to ensure that the rockets are ready and could send a Soyuz replacement with new crew before 16 November.

Suffredini insisted that despite the loss of cargo, from a logistical point of view the space station "is very, very good shape."
The last ferry

Last July, the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis, with more cargo capacity than the Soyuz, took tons of spare parts and food before the retired NASA operation.

The accident has again open the debate on whether the withdrawal of the U.S. shuttle, as NASA did not have a ship ready for replacement and is dependent on the Russians to reach the ISS. Meanwhile, has passed the baton to the private sector design and construction of the vehicle that in the future send crew and cargo to the ISS.

The International Space Station is a project of 100,000 million dollars involving 16 countries and this is the first time you run out of people since the first crew arrived in November 2000.