In our second special preview of this week’s space shuttle flight, New Scientist examines how astronauts could abandon ship in an emergency and take shelter on the space station
If Discovery suffers a problem after launch - currently scheduled for 13 July - its crew may take refuge aboard the International Space Station while another shuttle prepares for a dramatic rescue mission. But this solution carries risks of its own.
NASA set itself the goal of using the station as a "safe haven" in the wake of the loss of Columbia, which was critically damaged during launch in 2003 by a chunk of falling foam from its external fuel tank.
If a similar problem strikes Discovery, its seven crew members can join the two already inhabiting the space station. Normally, ISS crews could use the Russian Soyuz capsule to escape to Earth, but the Soyuz seats only three.
So NASA has been preparing the shuttle Atlantis to launch with a four-person crew to pick up the stranded astronauts. Atlantis would dock in Discovery's place at the station and the damaged orbiter would be pushed into the atmosphere to sink in the ocean. But the rescue would not be easy.
Whatever problem caused NASA to abandon the first ship would not be fixed in time for the rescue mission, so the same fate could befall the second shuttle. And no third shuttle could come to Atlantis's aid if it ran into trouble - the only remaining orbiter, Endeavor, is undergoing a major overhaul and would not be ready to launch.
"Trying to launch a rescue mission is risky," says NASA's deputy shuttle manager Wayne Hale. "Lots of things have to go right to pull that off. That is, frankly, the last thing we would like to do."
One of the most challenging aspects of the mission is the strain it would put on the station's limited resources. Atlantis could take about 32 days to launch, and NASA estimates the space station could support nine people with food, water, and oxygen for just 56 days or so in the event of a crisis. So the crew would have to scavenge as much as possible from the wounded shuttle before pushing it off the station.
The crew's orange launch-and-entry suits, helmets, boots, harnesses and parachutes would be the first items hauled over to the station.
"Then you start thinking about, OK, I'm in a camping situation, so what would I like to have on my extended camping trip?" says astronaut Wendy Lawrence, who would be in charge of shuffling supplies from the shuttle to the station. "I'm going to take every bit of food off the orbiter that we possibly can." Crew members will take 26 bags of water from the shuttle, as well as their shampoo and toothpaste.
And Lawrence convinced managers to include a few special items on Discovery in case its crew must encamp on the station. "What scares me most about staying on the station for an extended period of time?" she ponders: "Think about living in a house with nine people and one bathroom." Discovery will carry extra urine collection devices in case the station bathroom breaks down, as it did earlier in 2005.
NEW SCIENTIST’S SPECIAL REPORT: Follow the countdown as the NASA’s shuttle returns to flight. Read all the latest news, plus our Expert Guide and more…
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