The end of the International Space Station is finally approaching, with NASA declaring the retirement of the orbital outpost in 2030 and a dramatic deorbiting early in the following year.
Nothing lasts forever, not even the International Space Station. The writing’s been on the wall for some time now, but NASA made it official earlier this week, announcing that ISS operations will last until 2030 but no further. Upon retirement, the space station will perform a controlled re-entry and crash onto a remote part of the Pacific ocean known as Point Nemo. It’s all part of NASA’s plan to hand over space station responsibilities to the private sector and save a whole lotta cash in the process.
“The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance,” Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA, said in the statement. “We look forward to sharing our lessons learned and operations experience with the private sector to help them develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective destinations in space.”
In a detailed transition report sent to Congress, NASA said it expects to save $1.3 billion the year after ISS is gone and $1.8 billion per year by 2033. The space agency plans to spend these estimated savings on deep space exploration projects, allowing it to “explore further and faster into deep space,” according to the report. But by extending the mission to 2030, NASA will “continue another productive decade of research advancement and enable a seamless transition of capabilities in low-Earth orbit to one or more commercially owned and operated destinations in the late 2020s.”
In an email, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, cautioned that the new report didn’t include claims that other ISS partners, such as Russia, will agree to sustain ISS until 2030, “so it could be sooner,” he explained. Fair point. Russia, it would appear, has already checked out, as evidenced by threats of leaving and the deteriorating state of its ISS assets.
ISS has been in orbit since 2000, hosting a continuous succession of astronauts throughout its 22-year history. It’s the largest orbital outpost ever built—a stunning collaboration involving 15 different countries. Late last year, the Biden administration quietly extended the station’s lifetime from 2024 to 2030, but as the new report points out, this mission extension represents the last.
In its plan, NASA describes the decommissioning process, including a potential strategy to detach some modules and attach them to other space stations. At some point in 2030, the final crew will have to depart the ISS, in what will be undoubtedly an emotional and historic moment.
In early 2031, and with no one onboard, controllers will use thrusters to lower the station’s altitude to just above Earth’s atmosphere. The ISS will then make its fatal plunge through the atmosphere, followed by bits of debris splashing down onto the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area (SPOUA) in the vicinity of Point Nemo. This spot carries the nickname “spacecraft cemetery,” as it’s where space agencies have plopped hundreds of space pieces, including Russia’s Mir space station, for the past 50 years. Point Nemo is nowhere near inhabited areas, the closest being 1,670 miles (2,690 km) away.
Sounds simple, but the required degree of precision will require some extra work. The challenge is that ISS isn’t equipped with a big enough engine to allow direct travel from its current position to its required final low orbit in a single burn, as McDowell explained. ISS operators will have to “lower its orbit in stages before the final burn,” he said. “But you can’t lower it too far or the drag (winds) will make you lose attitude control and the station will start to tumble because of the forces.” The station will have to be lowered far enough before making the final burn, requiring the use of two Russian Progress spacecraft to lower the orbit and “then a third one to dump it,” McDowell said.
Indeed, and as NASA explains in its report, the station will “accomplish the de-orbit maneuvers by using the propulsion capabilities of the ISS and its visiting vehicles,” namely Progress and possibly Cygnus spacecraft. Then, “after performing maneuvers to line up the final target ground track and debris footprint” above SPOUA, ISS operators “will perform the ISS re-entry burn, providing the final push to lower ISS as much as possible and ensure safe atmospheric entry,” according to the report.
With the end of the ISS firmly in sight, NASA will be turning to the private sector to maintain a continuous human presence in space. To that end, NASA has already allocated $415.6 million as part of its Commercial Low Earth Destinations program, with the funds being distributed to Blue Origin, Nanoracks, and Northrop Grumman. There is concern, however, that space stations built by these firms won’t be ready in time and that a gap will exist by the time ISS is retired a mere eight years from now.
This situation could get worse if, as McDowell warned, other ISS partners won’t commit to the 2030 extension. Russia, like China, has plans to build its own space station in the coming years. It seems we’re at the end of an era. Fair to say, an international collaboration like this won’t happen any time soon.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
