The International Space Station (Iss) will not exist for much longer. The Nasa has decided: after 24 years, it has become obsolete and will be replacedThe American space agency will do it disintegrate in 2030 causing it to descend into the lower layers of the atmosphere, where will catch fire. For this reason NASA launched a tender which was won by SpaceX Of Elon Musk to build a tug which will drag the old one down “home” of astronauts.
The dismantling of the ISS
At the beginning of the next decade, the ISS crew will begin the descent from the current 400 kilometers altitude up to the “point of no return” at approximately 280 kilometers, bringing essential equipment with you. The astronauts inside will leave the station at this point. At that altitude, there will be docking of the Us Deorbit Vehiclethe tugboat from 843 million dollars which NASA will control and become its owner.
The vehicle, similar to the series Dragon of SpaceX intended for the transport of crew and goods, will drag the ISS towards the lower part of the atmosphere which will separate from the solar panels and come on radiators which keep the temperature inside the observatory stable. Then there will be the detachment of the individual moduli dal trellisthe supporting structure of the station. Finally, it they will disintegrate separately, burning, trellis and modules.
The space agencies will ensure that any debris of the fire fall in the area of Point Nemoin the Pacific Ocean, to protect the safety of people.
La Iss
The International Space Station, the size of a football field, is up and running since the year 2000 and has served as ever since research lab for astronauts of the first American space agencies (NASA spends 3 billion dollars a year for the ISS program) and Russian (Roscomos), then also Japanese (Children) e l’Esa european (China was excluded in 2011 by the United States and launched the first module of its space station, the Tiangong). So far they have reached the station 244 astronauts from 19 countries, e eight private citizens who spent up to $50 million on their visit.
NASA said that the ISS structures, modules and components “could no longer be compatible with future platforms”, which is why it was decided to dismantle the base, also considering the numerous gas and coolant leaks occurred over the years.
There were also requests to bring the station back to Earth for public display or to reuse parts of it. Requests labeled as “unachievable and expensive» from NASA.
After the ISS
And after the destruction of the ISS? NASA is funding the development of private space stations in low orbit like that of Voyager Space together with Airbus and that of Jeff Bezos, the Blue Origin. Other companies, like Axiom Spaceplan to launch their own modules for purposes commercial.
NASA, ESA, JAXA and the Canadian CSA plan to build a space station together around the Moon, the Lunar Gateway. In a similar project, Russia and China will launch. Thus, the collaboration between Moscow and Washington also ends in orbit.
