THE number of permanent crew on the International Space Station will be increased, and possibly doubled, from 2006 by providing it with an extra “lifeboat”. The move, announced in Japan last week by the ISS partner nations, means the space station crew will at last be able to do useful scientific research.
The number of crew on the ISS has been limited to three by the capacity of the Russian Soyuz capsules that would return them to Earth in an emergency. But running the ISS requires the full-time attention of more than two crew members, leaving just half the time…
