First space station crew expects malfunctions

Artist's concept of the International Space Station at completion

STAR CITY, Russia (Reuters) -- The first crew set to live aboard the International Space Station said on Wednesday they expect to tackle malfunctions when they finally switch on the lights in the station's living quarters.

William Shepherd, a U.S. Navy captain who will command the crew, and crewmate Sergei Krikalyov said at a training center in Star City outside Moscow that four years of training had prepared them for most eventualities, but anything could happen.

The $60 billion International Space Station (ISS), which is being built jointly by the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan, has been described as one of the most ambitious engineering projects ever. "I think it is going to be a difficult flight for many reasons ... it's not going to be easy because it's the first test flight and we are going to activate many systems for the first time," a relaxed Krikalyov told Reuters.

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The crew, which also includes Yuri Gidzenko, are due to go into orbit for a four-month-long mission on October 30 on a Russian Soyuz, which will remain there as an emergency escape craft.

"I think we have to expect some malfunctions. We don't know which malfunctions yet, but that's what we were training for and that is what we have to be prepared for and that's why I think the flight will not be easy."

Both cosmonauts agreed that their prolonged training period, brought on by difficulties getting the service module or living quarters into orbit, had been frustrating but had been the basis for thorough preparations.

"Well, it's been a long time in training. We've been here four years doing training for this flight and it seems like a long time. And I think we are ready to go," Shepherd said.

"We're finishing up our last training in the simulator here, looking at emergency procedures, things that we do in case of severe problems. We've been ... making good progress."

Krikalyov said he believed that the close-knit team had been ready to go a year ago. "We have been training together for a long time, and we know each other well, so I think we can handle all situations," he said.

When complete, supposedly in 2005, the station will loom seven stories high and become one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Seven full-time crew members will live and work in a space as big as the cabin of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.

But at least 35 more space missions will be needed to build the station. When they arrive the service module will be cramped for the three men, who say they do not know what to expect.

"It's been very difficult both in the United States and Russia to fully develop the training as everything had to start pretty much from zero. That's what makes it hard to know exactly what to train for because you don't know exactly what to expect," Shepherd said.

"I think in all: we've been through a lot and the training folks have done their best job. We just have to see what the result is."

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