MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax-AVN) - First aid kits will remain available for the crews of Soyuz manned spaceships although the travel time to the International Space Station (ISS) has been reduced from several days to only six hours, department head of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medical and Biological Problems Alexei Polyakov told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
"Soyuz TMA spaceships carry two first aid kits sufficient for a brief travel of three persons. The so-called shortcut has been used since last year, and the travel time from the launch to the docking with the ISS has dropped six hours from the recent two days or so. The drugs carried by Soyuz [spaceships] had a purpose. One kit contained first aid medicines, and other contained drugs for the prevention and treatment of negative symptoms of the first hours and days of a space flight," he said.
"It is not planned to withdraw drugs from the spaceship" because of the faster trip to the ISS, Polyakov said.
The kit containing drugs dealing with negative symptoms induced by zero gravity may be needed by astronauts during the first hours of their flight. The other kit, which carries first aid drugs, may be needed by the crew after their landing, for instance, in the case the arrival of rescue and evacuation forces is delayed for some reason, he said.