Supplies on the Way for Hungry Astronauts
A Russian cargo ship blasted off early today to carry badly needed food and equipment to the International Space Station, where supplies for the American and Russian crewmen have dwindled.
The Progress M-51 took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with about 2 1/2 tons of food, fuel and research equipment for cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and astronaut Leroy Chiao, ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies said.
Russian and American space officials were alarmed this month to learn that Sharipov and Chiao, in their second month at the station, only had enough food left for seven to 14 days beyond Dec. 25.
The crew had been ordered to cut back on meals. A Russian spokesman has said the two could be forced to return if the supplies did not reach them.
An independent team is looking into how the orbiting station’s food inventory was tracked so poorly.
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