The ISS is a big boy, holding the record for the largest human-made structure in space.
Why is NASA ditching the ISS?
NASA and its partners began assembling the space station in 1998.
Stylized illustration of the ISS during controlled reentry.Stylized illustration of the ISS during controlled reentry. Credit: Vicky Leta
It has hosted hundreds of astronauts from 18 different countries, who have completed over 270 spacewalks.
Alas, all good things must come to an end.
The ISS is getting old and the wear and tear of being in space has taken its toll.
NASA
Since its inception, the ISS has continuously hosted at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut.
Over the years, Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles have conducted numerous crew and cargo missions to the ISS.
The space station will have to be destroyed, as disassembling it is simply not practical.
I think the current plan is the only option available.
The space stations initial assembly took27 missionsusing NASAs now-retired Space Shuttle.
This makes a lot of sense; the station is filled with mementos and artifacts worth preserving.
Theorbital debris mitigation standard practiceaccepts a human casualty risk of less than 1 in 10,000.
Someonewe obviously dont know whowill be the last astronaut to float within its cozy confines.
A controlled reentry always begins with lowering a spacecrafts orbit.
Eventually, the stations orbit will decay to below 150 miles (250 kilometers), according to Langbroek.
At the time, NASA had estimated its ISS tug would cost around $1 billion in total.
The exorbitantly priced tug is a one-time use spacecraft and will not survive the deorbit assignment.
Along with the space station, it is expected to destructively breakup as part of the re-entry process.
This will ensure a controlled descent through the atmosphere to manage its debris footprint.
While a significant amount of material could fall from space, it likely wont land near inhabited areas.
This might seem obvious, but the smaller the spacecraft, the fewer fragments survive reentry.
NASA calculated there was a 1 in 152 chance of the remaining fragments hitting people on the ground.
Thankfully, there were no reported injuries.
With this new era, Earths orbit is set to undergo significant changes.
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