NASA May Pay $1 Billion to Destroy the International Space Station. Here's Why
NASA May Pay $1 Billion to Destroy the International Space Station. Here's Why
The International Space Station—larger than a football field and weighing almost 450 tons—must eventually fall to Earth. It’s a delicate, dangerous process
For nearly a quarter century, the International Space Station (ISS) has continuously hosted astronauts and science experiments as an enduring and beloved bastion of humanity in low-Earth orbit. Yet despite its successes, the space station’s days are numbered.
In the coming months, NASA will be evaluating commercial proposals for vehicles capable of “decommissioning” the ISS—that is, of safely dropping it into Earth’s atmosphere to burn up. The agency has said it expects to pay nearly $1 billion for this service to avoid relying on multiple Russian vehicles. The brutal ending is scheduled for early next decade but is already proving a delicate matter for aerospace engineering and international diplomacy.
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This may be dumb, but couldn't they just use a bit of thrust to send it away from the earths atmosphere instead? Just send it out into the depths of space
It would require more energy than just deorbiting it. So, yes, it's possible, but even more expensive.