{"id":29923,"date":"2022-03-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=29923"},"modified":"2022-04-20T13:23:54","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T13:23:54","slug":"iss-to-be-decommissioned-by-2031","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2022\/03\/24\/iss-to-be-decommissioned-by-2031\/","title":{"rendered":"ISS to be decommissioned by 2031"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Commercial enterprises will replace ISS activities in low-Earth orbit<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
The ISS will be deorbited gradually, to reach Earth\u2019s surface at sea in the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

NASA has laid out its plan to decommission and deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) by 2031, it was announced in late January. Commercial replacement facilities are expected to step in before that time, allowing NASA to maintain a constant human presence in low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n\n

As the ISS enters its third decade, the spacecraft is beginning to show its age. Much of the equipment is outdated and structural problems, such as cracks discovered last year, are beginning to emerge. As such, the international partners have decided to wind down the station\u2019s activities before eventually deorbiting the ISS. The process will take several years as the ISS\u2019s orbit is gradually reduced by visiting spacecraft, eventually causing it to crash to Earth in January 2031. Due to the large amount of debris expected, it will be disposed of in the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area.<\/p>\n\n

To ensure that low-Earth orbit activities continue, NASA has commissioned several companies to create commercial low-Earth orbit destinations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe estimate that our agency\u2019s future needs in low-Earth orbit will require accommodation and training for at least two crew members continuously,\u201d says Angela Hearts, Manager of NASA\u2019s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cAll the companies propose an initial operating capability of their systems prior to 2030,\u201d says Phil McAlister, Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThis will\u2026 ensure that we don\u2019t have a gap in our access to low-Earth orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The immediate future of the ISS is uncertain due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine. As of writing, the Western space agencies have expressed a desire to continue working with Roscomos, but the situation is constantly evolving. www.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n

\n\n
Comment by Chris Lintott<\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

While there are more pressing matters to worry about after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, it seems the ISS may struggle to make it to 2031. Its Russian, European, Japanese and American modules were designed to work together, with close collaboration.<\/p>\n\n

Other projects involving Russian partners are already unravelling. There will be no more launches of Soyuz rockets from ESA\u2019s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, and the agency admits that a 2022 launch of the Franklin Mars rover, reliant on the Russians, is \u201cvery unlikely\u201d. Even the German eROSITA X-ray telescope, on board the Spektr-RG mission, has been mothballed.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Troubles on Earth rebound into the cosmos \u2013 and the ISS may cause the biggest headache.<\/p>\n\n

Chris Lintott co-presents The Sky at Night <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Photo: ESA\/ROSCOSMOS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commercial enterprises will replace ISS activities in low-Earth orbit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":29922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"11","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"11","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_11-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_11-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"April-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"April-2022","purple_external_id":"April-2022-11-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"April-2022-11-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086551||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086551||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.203","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde.jpg",1715,1205,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde-300x211.jpg",300,211,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde-768x540.jpg",768,540,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde-1024x719.jpg",800,562,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde-1536x1079.jpg",1536,1079,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/9da58231-81e1-4778-a7c4-22107eae3dde.jpg",1715,1205,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Commercial enterprises will replace ISS activities in low-Earth orbit","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29923"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30654,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29923\/revisions\/30654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}