NASA Voices Concerns About Space Station; Temporarily Leaving Lab Without a Crew Could Result in Its Loss, Agency Says From: The Washington Post | Date: October 24, 2003| Author: Kathy Sawyer and Eric Pianin | Copyright 2003 The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post.Copyright information

If NASA is forced to abandon the international space station temporarily because of deteriorating health conditions for the crew on board, there is a high risk of losing the $30 billion orbital laboratory, NASA officials and astronauts said yesterday.

"We've done some analysis, and it shows that we have a fairly high probability that if we have the wrong components fail, and there's not a crew on board to change it out, we could have [the] station in a degrading manner," space station ...