Russia To Sink International Space Station In 2020

[Morizovich]

Source: Huffington

MOSCOW — A Russian space official said Wednesday that once the mammoth International Space Station is no longer needed it will be sent into the Pacific Ocean.

It's a plan that's long been in the works and is a step to avoid the station becoming dangerous space junk. It was supposed to plunge into the ocean as early as 2015. The U.S. recently extended its life until at least 2020, and there's been talk of keeping it going even longer.

Vitaly Davydov, deputy head of the Russian space agency, said the orbiting outpost will be destroyed in a controlled descent to Earth "so that there is no space junk left behind."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/27/international-space-station-2020_n_911361.html

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I wonder if they could angle it so it lands on Eric Cantor?

[meow mix]

1. HAARP

:tinfoilhat:

[AndyTiedye]

2. Virgin Galactic (Space Division of Virgin Air) Might Be Interested in a Slightly-Used Space Station

[greiner3]

3. Wasn't it Hyatt Hotels;

That said it was going to build a hotel in outer space? They could lease it from Richard.

[ixion]

4. that was quick

they just finished the thing a few years ago... :(

[Xithras]

6. It took forever to build.

Between construction delays and the interruption after the Columbia disaster, the ISS was finished many years behind schedule. The oldest sections are now almost 13 years old, and the Russians only designed them to last 15 years.

[glinda]

5. so what are the pollution considerations?

[Xithras]

7. Interesting. RKK Energia has been talking publicly about just breaking it apart.

They've publicly stated their interest in just discarding some of the older components after the U.S. pulls out. They wanted to detach the U.S. components and allow them to re-enter (they can't just claim U.S. property), ditch a few of the oldest Russian components, and keep a smaller version of the station in orbit using the newer components and parts that don't have age issues (like the main truss and solar arrays).

I wonder if those plans have been totally scrapped now.

[Proles]

8. It seems like such a waste,

but they can't exactly keep it up there forever.

The station relies on rocket boosts to prevent the minute air resistance from deteriorating its orbit. And such boosts, are of course, expensive.

But hopefully they make the most of this station while we can.