Senate Okays Purchase Of Russian Spacecraft

The US Senate Wednesday approved a measure that would allow NASA to outsource at least some of its trips to the International Space Station. If the House follows suit and approves the measure as well, one day soon an American spacecraft headed for the ISS could carry the label "Made In Russia."

The idea is to allow NASA to purchase from Russia Soyuz spacecraft for missions to the station starting sometime after the end of the year. The bill was introduced earlier this month by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) that temporarily suspends the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000. That measure specifically bars the US from purchasing Russian space technology so long as the Russians continue to provide Iran with nuclear technology.

The House is expected to follow suit in some fashion, although it's not clear whether representatives will concur with the current Senate bill -- S. 1713 -- or introduce one of their own that will later have to be reconciled with the Senate's version.

NASA says, without the ability to buy Russian space technology, it may not be able to send more teams to the ISS. A Soyuz spacecraft is set to launch for the ISS on September 30th, carrying a crew of two plus a space tourist, who paid $20 million for the trip.

FMI: www.nasa.gov