Would there be a rescue mission if an astronaut was lost in space?

Question

I was just wondering, with all the money nasa has, if they have anything planned in case of emergency? Does anyone else know more about nasa safety then me?

Answer 1

There would be a rescue mission, but the astronauts would have to stay aboard the ISS until the rescue craft is prepared and launched. That usually takes a few weeks if not longer. Ever since the Columbia incident, every mission flies to the ISS for that very reason.  Columbia was not a ISS mission.  They could not have been saved with a rescue mission.

Answer 2

It takes weeks, months, even, to ready a vehicle to go into orbit.

The reality is that no, the time constaints would be too long to perform a recue in space. Having siad that...if the ISS had the fuel, then it might be possible to maneuver near to the lost astronaught and recover him/her.

Answer 3

No there wouldn't be.  Now if the entire spacecraft was disabled there MIGHT be a rescue mission with in a week or two.  But to send a space shuttle and spend hundreds of milions to rescue a single astronaut?  Not likely.  Not when we have POWs in other countries that have been left for dead.  

Answer 4

In the Apollo days, if there was a launch problem, the astronauts could fire the escape rocket, which would lift the capsule off of the Saturn V, and they'd land somewhere down range.  The Shuttle has no such safety feature - and despite the fact that the Challenger astronauts could have been saved with such a feature, this problem was not fixed.

If there were a problem like Columbia had - where damage was done and a return to Earth is not possible, NASA can launch another Shuttle as a rescue mission.  But they generally aren't prepared to do this.  Currently, if you have problems like this on orbit, you go to the ISS and stay there.  But for the upcoming HST service mission, this won't be possible.  They may have a 2nd shuttle ready - i'm not sure.

I find it odd that neither shuttle disaster has resulted in a true fix.  The engineering fixes are well understood - it's only the money and will to do it that is needed.

Answer 5

It probably depends on the likelihood of success of the rescue mission. It would not make sense to lose two more astronauts in a futile attempt to save one who is beyond the reach of anything we could send. It's similar to a "man overboard" during a storm at sea. They rarely turn the ship around, because by the time they do, there will be nothing left to find. That's the risk we take when we go exploring.

Answer 6

Highly unlikely.  The life expectancy of an astronaut in a space suit isn't that long.  The time necessary to plan a mission and to carry it out IS VERY long.  This results in a near-zero probability of success. Space exploration is potentially deadly.  We have certainly seen the truth of that.  Those who venture into that realm know the risks.