The International Space Station (ISS) would continue its operations until 2030 before heading for a watery grave at the most remote point in the Pacific Ocean, NASA confirmed in a new transition plan this week.
More than 30 years after its 1998 launch, the ISS would be “de-orbited” in January 2031, the space agency’s budget estimates show.
Once out of orbit, the space station would make a dramatic descent before splash-landing in Point Nemo, which is about 2,700km from any land and has become known as the space cemetery, a final resting place for decommissioned space stations, old satellites and other human space debris.
Photo: Reuters
Also known as the “Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility” or the “South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area,” the region around the space cemetery is known for its utter lack of human activity.
It is “pretty much the farthest place from any human civilization you can find,” NASA said.
NASA said that it plans to continue space research by buying space and time for astronaut scientists on commercial spacecraft.
While celebrating the ISS’ record of scientific accomplishments, Robyn Gatens, the director of the International Space Station at NASA headquarters, also said in a statement that its current goal was to “lay the groundwork for a commercial future in low-Earth orbit.”
“We look forward to sharing our lessons learned and operations experience with the private sector to help them develop safe, reliable and cost-effective destinations in space,” said Phil McAlister, the director of commercial space at NASA headquarters.
NASA estimated that transitioning its space research from a dedicated space station to renting space aboard commercial space ventures would save US$1.3 billion in 2031 alone, and that the savings could “be applied to NASA’s deep-space exploration initiatives, allowing the agency to explore further and faster into deep space.”
The ISS, about the size of a football field, orbits the Earth about once every 90 minutes and has been continuously occupied by astronauts since November 2000.
In September last year, a Russian official said that small cracks had been discovered on the space station that could worsen over time and raised concerns about aging equipment and the risk of “irreparable failures,” BBC News reported.
The space station was originally intended to operate for just 15 years, but NASA said in a report that “there is high confidence that ISS life can be further extended through 2030,” although some analyses of its viability are still being conducted.
The ISS was “examining the recent technical issues aboard the Russian segment,” NASA said in its report.
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