Korolyov - A senior NASA official yesterday defended the agency's abrupt decision to change astronauts for the next crew to work aboard the Mir space station, replacing a woman who had trained more than a year for the job.
At a news conference at Russian Mission Control, Mr Frank Culbertson said problems aboard Mir, which collided with its cargo re-supply ship on June 25th and now runs on partial power, made it wise to send someone able to go on spacewalks needed to perform repairs.
He said that Wendy Lawrence was too small for the Russian Orlan space suit and had no spacewalk training, unlike her replacement, David Wolf.
Ms Lawrence will still fly aboard the US shuttle in midSeptember. - (Reuter)