The International Space Station has served as a home away from home for numerous astronauts over the past 23 years. However, it seems that its days are now numbered. NASA recently announced a partnership with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, to assist in decommissioning the ISS. The plan involves utilizing a superpowered, extra-large Dragon spaceship to push the ISS out of orbit and into a controlled descent into a remote ocean grave, likely to occur in 2031.
SpaceX already operates Dragon spacecrafts to transport NASA astronauts and cargo to and from the ISS. However, these Dragon spacecrafts are significantly lighter compared to the ISS, which weighs about 925,000 pounds. To address this issue, SpaceX intends to modify one of its Cargo Dragons by adding a high-powered trunk and equipping it with 46 Draco engines, which is 30 more engines than a standard Dragon. This enhanced “deorbit vehicle” will be twice as long as a regular Dragon and possess six times more propellant to generate four times the power.
Sarah Walker, SpaceX’s director of Dragon mission management, highlighted the complexity of the final burn that will propel the ISS towards its ultimate descent. This burn must be powerful enough to maneuver the entire space station while countering torques and forces caused by atmospheric drag. The target destination for the ISS’s descent is a remote area of the ocean, such as the South Pacific. NASA is adamant that the spacecraft plunges into open water to avoid any risks upon reentry.
Walker expressed her excitement at being a part of this historic event in space exploration. Dragon, which first docked with the ISS in 2012, is set to be the last vehicle to ever dock with the station. NASA initially considered using three Russian Progress spacecraft for the decommissioning task but deemed them insufficient for the size of the ISS. Both NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, plan to continue utilizing the ISS until 2030, after which they will pursue separate space station endeavors. NASA envisions becoming one of the numerous clients on private space stations in the forthcoming era of space exploration.
The decommissioning of the International Space Station marks the end of an illustrious chapter in space exploration. With SpaceX’s innovative solutions and NASA’s meticulous planning, the transition from the ISS to new space stations heralds a new era of space exploration and collaboration between different space agencies and private companies.
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