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[i]Movement on a legislative exemption that would allow NASA to buy seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft past 2011 is at a virtual standstill, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin says. Because of the three-year lead time needed to build Soyuz vehicles, contracts must be in place by early 2009 to avoid an interruption in NASA's presence on board the international space station. But in an interview with CBS News on Thursday, Griffin said he is not optimistic any such legislation will be approved in the wake of Russia's invasion of Georgia and that it's now likely the U.S. segment of the station will have to be unmanned for at least some portion of 2012. Griffin said the problem is "very serious. We have been literally working this issue all year long. I need a contract vehicle in place by early '09 if we are to fly American and international partners on Soyuz in early '12."[/i]
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