How will the crews be swapped out on ISS until Shuttle flights resume?
The Russians are expected to provide crew exchange support using their Soyuz TMA series of spacecraft. Although no plans have been officially announced, space policy experts believe the Russians will launch a Soyuz to ISS in early May of 2003, most likely with only an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard. This would serve two purposes: 1) To furnish the station with a new Soyuz lifeboat. 2) Allow the current Expedition 6 crew of Ken Bowersox, Don Pettit and Nikolai Budarin to return to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-series spacecraft already docked to the station. However, one of the limiting factors in staffing and maintaining ISS is that basic mission requirements currently limit Expedition crews to a minimum of three crewmembers. The reason for this limitation is that on any spacewalk, an EVA cannot consist of less than two people going outside while a third remains inside to coordinate the EVA and to assist the two spacewalkers in both donning and removing their spacesuits
