THE International Space Station (ISS) will have more room for scientists if NASA’s plans for an “orbital space plane” succeed. The spaceplane will act as an escape capsule for the ISS, allowing a bigger crew to be housed aboard the station. But researchers who will need the extra manpower to run their experiments will have to wait until at least 2010 before the craft is ready.
NASA’s multibillion-dollar cost overruns on the ISS last year forced it to back away from earlier pledges to build a crew return vehicle for the ISS. As a result, the space station’s crew is currently limited to three, the most…
