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ZetaTalk: ISS Evacuation
written Dec 10, 2004

There was a live internet broadcast of a panel answering questions, which I watched. Expedition Team 10 arrived at the Space Station. Why would they not bring enough to last them? Not only that, but Russian Supply Cargo ships went up there during Expedition Team 9's stay, not one time but twice. Why would they still not have any food left over? And now, the video has seemingly disappeared. If you go to CNN, who actually broadcast the video on-line, you'll find nothing of the sort. NASA makes no mention of the breaking news on their website. All of the members of the panel displayed signs of extreme nervousness, of worry and of masked sorrow. They were skittish and fidgety, which seasoned public speakers are not. They could not look in one direction for long. They were lying through their teeth. So what's really going on?




Signs of the Times #1258
Russia Plans to Evacuate ISS Crew Due to Lack of Food [Dec 10] http://www.mosnews.com 'Provisions for the current crew on the International Space Station are running low. If for any reason the cargo spaceship does not deliver containers with products into orbit before the middle of the next month, perhaps an urgent evacuation of spacemen working there will be needed. The next delivery is scheduled for Dec. 24. A spokesman from Mission Control was quoted by the agency as saying the members of the previous crew overconsumed their provisions. The current ISS crew consists of Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and US astronaut Leroy Chiao.'
[and from another source]
Space Station Crew Forced to Cut Calories [Dec 9]
‘Food is running so low aboard the international space station that flight controllers have instructed the two crewmen to cut back on calories, at least until a Russian supply ship arrives in a little over two weeks. If anything goes wrong with the Christmas Day delivery, NASA will have no choice, given the grounding of its shuttle fleet, but to abandon the station and bring the men home in early January. The space agency, meanwhile, is drawing up plans to evacuate the orbiting outpost, in case the Russian rocket carrying the cargo ship explodes during liftoff, or the ship cannot dock two days later.’
[and from another source]
ISS Crew Redocks Soyuz Spacecraft [Nov 30]
‘The tenth crew of the International Space Station made a short spaceflight early Monday to move a Russian lifeboat to a new docking port and prepare the station for a pair of upcoming spacewalks. Monday's spaceflight marked the first time the Expedition 10 crew left the ISS unmanned since they arrived at the station on October 16. Initially slated to be used as an emergency lifeboat for ISS crews, Russia's Soyuz spacecraft are currently the only vehicles available for station crew exchange.’