Moscow, Feb 03: Russia will stop sending crews and paying tourists on short visits to the International Space Station for an unspecified period of time in the wake of the shuttle Columbia disaster, space officials said today. In the past, US shuttles have ferried long-term crews to the 16-nation space station, while Russian rockets have carried visiting crews in fresh Soyuz craft that they leave behind as emergency escape vehicles. But with the shuttle program grounded during the investigation into Saturday`s disaster, the head of Russia`s manned space program said the shorter missions must also be put on hold, the state news agency reported. The agency quoted Mikhail Sinelshchikov as saying that now the delivery of the main crew of the International Space Station will be carried on manned Soyuz TMA ships.

Russian Space Agency Rosaviakosmos, Sergei Gorbunov today said Russia would have to suspend trips to the station by paying tourists for the time being, but that it intends to resume the lucrative practice in the future. Two men have paid a reported $20 million each to fly to the space station aboard Russian rockets.
Bureau Report