ISS Crew Has Enough Supplies Until March 2015: NASA

© Photo : wikipedia / NASAInternational Space Station after undocking of STS-132
International Space Station after undocking of STS-132 - Sputnik International
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"The crew of ISS has all the food, water and other consumers necessary well into next year", according to NASA's International Space Station Program Manager.

WASHINGTON, October 29 (RIA Novosti) – In case no spacecraft makes it to the ISS (International Space Station) in the near future, the supplies will be enough until March 2015, Mike Suffredini, NASA's International Space Station Program Manager, said at the press briefing, dedicated to the Antares rocket explosion at the launchpad, which occurred in Virginia Tuesday.

"We keep the logistics on board the ISS to protect us from 4 to 6 month in case a logistic vehicle cannot make it to the ISS. So the logistics when there is no other spacecraft showed up, take us well into the next year," Suffredini said Tuesday night.

NASA representative added that there are plenty of supplies on board of the space station.

"The crew has all the food, water and other consumers necessary well into next year. I think if no other vehicle shows up we can go all way to about the March time frame," he stated.

The Antares rocket with the Cygnus spacecraft was supposed to be launched Tuesday from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to deliver more than 2 tons of cargo to the ISS.

The unmanned rocket, however, exploded six seconds after liftoff.

Apart from provisions for the crew, the cargo onboard the Cygnus included science experiments equipment and some spares, but according to Suffredini, the situation is not expected to be dramatic, as "the station is in a great shape".

"We have lost quite a bit of research hardware; we will work with different providers to recover and get them opportunity to get to the space station. In addition to that, we have lost some spares that will have to, of course, be replaced and we will do it over time," Suffredini said.

He concluded that a SpaceX vehicle flight to ISS is scheduled for December.

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