International spaceflight crew rescue standards

Abstract

An initial step towards the goal of establishing capabilities for international space crew rescue is the development of a set of international standards. These initial standards should comprise the minimum set which is necessary to support the capability to perform emergency rendezvous with, and rescue of, the crew of a spacecraft by another crew carrying spacecraft. The paper covers: • - the current international spaceflight environment; • - the possible generic rescue scenarios; • - the identification of design and operational factors relevant to the rescue scenarios; • - provisional identification of the common standards; • - proposed strategy for follow up activities including international aspects.