Escape Vehicle

Just as all cruise ships and ferries have life boats, so too does the International Space Station.  Two Russian Soyuz TM modules, which are currently used to ferry Russian cosmonauts and guest cosmonauts to and from their Mir Space Station, will be permanently docked to the International Space Station.  Each Soyuz capsule can hold a crew of three, permitting a full evacuation of the Space Station if that were ever to become necessary.

The Soyuz capsule is divided into two parts; the return capsule and the service compartment.  The former is the only part of the capsule that returns to the Earth.  It holds the crew, parachutes and sufficient air and battery power for the short time needed to re-enter the atmosphere and to land.  The service compartment houses food, hygiene facilities and larger quantities of air, allowing the whole vehicle and crew to remain in orbit for up to a few days if necessary.  Although it has undergone some design modifications, the Soyuz TM has been in use ever since the 1960's, ferrying cosmonauts to and from space.
