No time in space

Operating and maintaining the International Space Station “might leave ISS
flight crews little time for research,” warns a report issued last week by the
National Research Council. Although the station’s design was sound, the panel
worries that NASA has concentrated so much on building the space station that it
has ignored the problems of upkeep and conducting research. Crews on Mir in
recent years were kept so busy running and repairing the station that they had
little time for research. “NASA has not done sufficient analyses to alleviate
this concern,” warns the report.