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
Since its launch in 1998, the era of the Space Station has seen a continued human presence in space, with astronauts from different countries around the globe living, working and conducting vital science experiments in Earth orbit.<\/p>\n
It has also become a favourite object to spot in the night sky: it\u2019s possible to spot the International Space Station<\/a> or even to photograph the International Space Station<\/a>.<\/p>\n So why is this iconic feat of engineering soon to meet its end?<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\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 Much of the equipment is outdated and structural problems such as cracks are beginning to emerge.<\/p>\n The international partners that collaborate in the running of the International Space Station have decided to wind down activities before eventually deorbiting the ISS.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Due to the large amount of debris expected, it will be disposed of in the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area.<\/p>\n To ensure that low-Earth orbit activities continue without the International Space Station, NASA has commissioned several companies to create commercial low-Earth orbit destinations.<\/p>\n Three US companies have been named so far to replace the ISS: Blue Origin, Nanoracks LLC and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation.<\/p>\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<\/span>\u00a0says Angela Hearts, Manager of NASA\u2019s Commercial<\/span> Low Earth Orbit Development Program.<\/p>\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 \u201cThis will\u2026 ensure that we don\u2019t have a gap in our access to low-Earth orbit.\u201d<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Ezzy Pearson Published: Monday, 21 March 2022 at 12:00 am NASA has laid out its plan to decommission and deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) by 2031. Commercial replacement facilities are expected to step in before that time, allowing NASA to maintain a constant human presence in low-Earth orbit. Since its launch in 1998, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":30189,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/how-the-iss-is-being-retired-and-what-will-happen-to-it-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/how-the-iss-is-being-retired-and-what-will-happen-to-it-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/how-the-iss-is-being-retired-and-what-will-happen-to-it-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/how-the-iss-is-being-retired-and-what-will-happen-to-it-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/how-the-iss-is-being-retired-and-what-will-happen-to-it-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/how-the-iss-is-being-retired-and-what-will-happen-to-it-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/03\/how-the-iss-is-being-retired-and-what-will-happen-to-it-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Ezzy Pearson Published: Monday, 21 March 2022 at 12:00 am NASA has laid out its plan to decommission and deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) by 2031. Commercial replacement facilities are expected to step in before that time, allowing NASA to maintain a constant human presence in low-Earth orbit. Since its launch in 1998,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/30187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why is the ISS being retired?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>What will replace the ISS?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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