MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Federal Space Agency has officially suggested to NASA that the main expeditions regularly sent to the International Space Station (ISS) should spend one year in orbit, rather than the current six months.
"This offer was sent to NASA the other day. As the space shuttles are not operating now, the opportunities for the Russian agency to earn additional money have dramatically declined. The money that Russia received from the flights of European astronauts and space tourists were invested in the ISS program in addition to budget money. Now that the shuttles are not flying, the inflow of these finances has decreased," agency press secretary Sergei Gorbunov told Interfax on March 26.
The extension of the term aboard the ISS to one year "will give Russia the chance to reserve two seats for commercial astronauts aboard Soyuz spacecraft with visiting crews, which will make it possible to raise more extra-budgetary money to finance the development of the Russian segment of the ISS," Gorbunov said.
"This decision has been cleared with the Energia space rocket corporation, the head Russian organization responsible for manned space flights, and forwarded to NASA. At the moment, NASA experts are thoroughly considering the Russian Federal Space Agency's proposal. Russia expects to receive an answer in two or three weeks," he said.