Russia has decided to temporarily lessen the number of its crew on the International Space Station in an effort to mitigate costs until the launch of Russia’s Multipurpose Laboratory Module ISS component in late 2017, Space News reported Monday.
Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said the space agency has determined that the reduction of the Russian crew from three to two will have minimal impact on ISS operations, Jeff Foust writes.
Gerstenmaier added that two cosmonauts will be enough to conduct maintenance on the Russian segment of ISS and the move will have no effect on most research activities at the space station.
He noted that the decision will affect only the human health studies on the consequences of weightlessness on the human body.