Oh I could die without a little help from my friends.....
Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:11 am
In Space no one can hear you raid the fridge. So the astronauts on the International Space Station orbiting the Earth have found that, despite careful calorie counting, they are running out of food.
Now Russian officials have accused the previous crew, Michael Fincke of America and Gennady Padalka of Russia, of over-eating during their six-month mission earlier this year.
An emergency Christmas Day delivery is planned by rocket to restock the dwinding larder of Salizhan Sharipov and Leroy Chiao.
The NASA flight surgeon, Sean Roden, said the crew had been instructed last week to cut their calorie intake from 3,000 calories each per day to 2,000.
Crew commander Chiao (44) and flight engineer Sharipov (40) left Baikonur on October 13th, on board a Soyuz spacecraft and docked at the ISS three days later.
They were supposed to stay aboard for six months.
The Space Station's Manager, William Gerstenmaier, told a news confernce at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, that flight planners knew from the start that food supplies could be tight at times.
They were, however, surprised to learn last week that the astronauts had begun digging into the 45-day food reserve in the middle of November.
Their only lifeline is a Russian Progress M-151 rocket, due to take off on December 24.
It is due to dock at the space station on St Stephen's Day with a cargo of food,water and other essential supplies.
Should the Progress rocket explode during lift-off or fail to dock, the crew would be evacuated aboard Soyuz Space capsule.
Now Russian officials have accused the previous crew, Michael Fincke of America and Gennady Padalka of Russia, of over-eating during their six-month mission earlier this year.
An emergency Christmas Day delivery is planned by rocket to restock the dwinding larder of Salizhan Sharipov and Leroy Chiao.
The NASA flight surgeon, Sean Roden, said the crew had been instructed last week to cut their calorie intake from 3,000 calories each per day to 2,000.
Crew commander Chiao (44) and flight engineer Sharipov (40) left Baikonur on October 13th, on board a Soyuz spacecraft and docked at the ISS three days later.
They were supposed to stay aboard for six months.
The Space Station's Manager, William Gerstenmaier, told a news confernce at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, that flight planners knew from the start that food supplies could be tight at times.
They were, however, surprised to learn last week that the astronauts had begun digging into the 45-day food reserve in the middle of November.
Their only lifeline is a Russian Progress M-151 rocket, due to take off on December 24.
It is due to dock at the space station on St Stephen's Day with a cargo of food,water and other essential supplies.
Should the Progress rocket explode during lift-off or fail to dock, the crew would be evacuated aboard Soyuz Space capsule.