If you have every made sure that your kids have a ride home from the party before letting them go, then you seem to be doing more planning ahead than NASA. NASA plans to send astronaut Bill McArthur to the international space station for a six-month stay without arranging a car pool for him to get home. CNN reports:
NASA’s space shuttles cannot launch again until their fuel tanks are fixed and Hurricane Katrina has shut down the New Orleans manufacturing facility that produces the tanks and was working on the problem. Half of the work force at the plant, which is operated by Lockheed Martin for NASA, has not been found since the storm hit.
Space station partner Russia is no longer obliged to provide free transportation to the space station aboard its Soyuz craft and trade sanctions prevent NASA from buying rides outright. NASA is banking on one last option to get McArthur home: Russian goodwill.
