The useful life of the International Space Station (ISS) is close to coming to an end, so NASA devised a plan with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to tow the structure to a certain point in the Pacific Ocean and let it fall in a controlled manner on Earth. The US agency reported that it will be operational until 2030, more than 25 years since its creation.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that he signed a contract with the company SpaceXfrom the billionaire Elon Muskto create a tugboat called “American Deorbitation Vehicle” which will cost $843 million and will transport the structure to a specific location in the Pacific Ocean to drop it on Earth.
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Soyuz spacecraft
NASA intends to move the scientific experiments that took place on the space station to commercially owned stations and stated that the decision to retire the ISS defines a transition that seeks to invest funds in operations in low Earth orbit, the area of space closest to Earth.
“The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with assistance from NASA“said Phil McAlister, director of commercial space for the US government agency.
NASA’s plan to dismantle the International Space Station
Although there is a danger that space debris will reach Earth and cause disasters, as in the case that occurred in Florida, United States, in which a family sued NASA because an object released from the ISS fell on a home and for which they asked $80,000.
To avoid any type of accident, NASA decided to develop a plan to be able to do so in 2023, when they finish using the ISS. Which consists of propelling the remains of the structure to an uninhabited area of the South Pacific known as Point Nemoa vast expanse of water that became a “space dump”to control the descent of ships, satellites, etc.
Is it the end of space travel? No, not at all, but the International Space Station will be replaced by private stations, which will be able to receive space tourism, such as Axiom Space or Orbital Reef from Blue Origins.
