[rrmm]

I could see them making a contingency for stuffing everyone on dragon as an absolute last resort and moving some launches around to get a vehicle there asap. In anycase it'll give NASA an occasion to review their planning for these sorts of situations.

I'll be interested to see if they make any changes to station procedures or the vehicle complement they choose to keep on orbit.

[pifm_guy]

I assume that, while dragon was designed originally for 7, since the design has been changed to 4 people that other things have been adjusted that mean 7 is no longer an option. For example, the parachutes might be slightly smaller for the reduced expected weight. Or the environmental system can only deal with the heat, moisture and co2 of 4 astronauts not 7.

[rrmm]

Yeah, I imagine the conversation as more of a "could we make this work if we had no other choice" sort of thing. I don't imagine it would be considered under anything other than a dire emergency.

I don't think NASA would have a problem having fewer seats available for egress than crew for a short time as long as they were moving to rectify it.