Decommission ISS - final resting at 'Rocket graveyard' in 2031

Decommission ISS - final resting at 'Rocket graveyard' in 2031

Launch of ISS in 2000

 October 31,2000. Launch of first crew to ISS.

The International Space Station, often abbreviated to ISS, is a large space craft that orbits Earth and houses astronauts who go up there to complete scientific missions

Many countries worked together to build it and they work together to use it

It is made up of many pieces, which astronauts had to send up individually on rockets and put together from 1998 to 2000

Ever since the year 2000, people have lived on the ISS. Nasa uses the station to learn about living and working in space

Launched in 2000, the space lab has orbited 227 nautical miles above Earth with more than 200 astronauts from 19 different countries enjoying stints aboard – representing a continuous human presence in space.

Living inside the ISS is said to be like living inside a big house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym, lots of science labs and a big bay window for viewing Earth.

Success so far

The space station has been home to many scientific firsts. The first item to be 3D-printed on the space station occurred in 2014. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins sequenced DNA in space for the first time in 2016. And the fifth state of matter, called a Bose-Einstein condensate, was produced in space by NASA’s Cold Atom Lab on the station in 2018.

Astronauts have learned how to grow lettuces and leafy greens in space. The first space-grown salad was sampled by astronauts in 2015. Now, they’re even growing radishes and chilis on the station. This could be used to one day help astronauts grow their own food on deep space missions.

Countries partnered 

The ISS launched in 1998 as a collaboration between Russia and the United States, with astronauts moving in two years later.

Europe, Japan, and Canada contributed to building the enormous space laboratory, helping the ISS grow to the size of a football field by 2011.

China, whose astronauts have long been excluded from the ISS, launched the first module of its planned space station last year. While not as large as the ISS, the Chinese space station is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year.

Russia has said it will leave the ISS project in 2025 and plans to build its own space station that could launch in 2030.

Point Nemo

Named after the submarine sailor in Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” Point Nemo is the point in the ocean that is farthest from land and has been a watery grave for many other spacecraft.

The area is approximately 3,000 miles off of New Zealand’s eastern coast and 2,000 miles north of Antarctica and it’s estimated that space-faring nations such as the US, Russia, Japan and European countries have sunk more than 263 pieces of space debris there since 1971.

Dismantling ISS by Elon musk

Elon Musk's company won a $843 million contract to bring the aging station down in 2031, once it hits the 32-year mark.

The Elon Musk-founded company will likely carry some mementos back to Earth to be displayed in a museum, like the ship's bell. 

As for the ISS, Nasa plans to intentionally preserve some small items from inside the station like the ship's bell, logs, and panels with patches.

A SPACEX capsule will guide the International Space Station back into orbit to burn up, with its remains plummeting into the ocean.

Future

NASA said that commercially operated space platforms would replace the ISS as a venue for collaboration and scientific research.

“The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance. 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, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters in a statement.

The ISS won’t rest on its laurels for the next comming years. NASA said goals for the next decade including using the ISS as “analog for a Mars transit mission,” according to the report.

Compiled by

Ms Naresh kuwar

Samadhan IT Solution