The failure of a Soyuz rocket to send a supply ship into space last week may mean that the International Space Station will have to be temporarily abandoned for the first time since 2000, Florida Today reports.
Russian space vehicles are the only means of ferrying crews and supplies to the station now that the U.S. space shuttle program has ended.
Last week, the third-stage failure of a Soyuz rocket sent an unmanned Progress supply ship crashing into Siberia.
As a result, plans to launch a new crew to the station Sept. 21 have been postponed indefinitely while Russian officials investigate why the rocket failed.
Mike Suffredini, NASA's program manager for the space station, says two factors could force the temporary abandonment of the station, the newspaper reports.
First, is the imminent expiration date of the "certified orbital lifetimes" of two Soyuz "lifeboats" attached to the station. The second involves flight rules that call for crews to return to Earth during daylight.
Three of the crewmembers aboard the station -- two Russians and an American -- have already delayed their planned Sept. 8 return by a week while the probe continues.
They will probably return before Sept. 19 -- the last daylight landing opportunity that month in the central steppes of Kazakhstan, Florida Today reports.
The next opportunity would not come until Oct. 27, about 10 days beyond the 200-day "certified orbital lifetime" of their Soyuz taxi back home.
The remaining three crewmembers need to return before Nov. 19 -- the last daylight landing opportunity that month.
Otherwise, the certified life of their Soyuz spacecraft will expire before the next daylight opportunity rolls around in late December, the newspaper says.
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.