Save the ISS
Last month, NASA asked SpaceX Approximately $1 billion contract Develop a “United States Deorbit Vehicle” capable of removing the International Space Station from orbit and burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
The decommissioning of the aging orbital base has been planned for years, and NASA hopes to destroy it by 2030, bringing to an end three decades of peaceful international cooperation in Earth’s orbit.
And not everyone is happy with the plan: Jean-Jacques Dourdan, who was director general of the European Space Agency when the space station was built, and former NASA administrator Michael Griffin have said they would rather extend the station’s lifespan and give future scientists a chance to continue studying space.
“As two of the builders of the ISS, we recommend that those in charge consider options other than destroying the station,” Dordain said. Said Forbes In an interview.
Instead, he argued, the ISS “should be handed over to future generations and let them decide its fate,” he added.
Gifts of the Future
To achieve this, Dodain and Griffin argue that SpaceX’s deorbiting rockets should be used to rescue the space station, not destroy it. Such a rocket would: increase By raising the ISS’ altitude rather than lowering it, it will be able to enter a more stable orbit much higher above Earth.
in Open Letter Issuer Space News Earlier this month, the two space legends claimed that to raise the ISS from its current altitude of 400 km to a circular orbit at an altitude of 800 km, a speed of about 220 meters per second would be needed, roughly the same speed needed for precise de-orbit control.
“At higher altitudes, the orbital lifetime would be several decades, providing sufficient time for future generations to make their own decisions and take action,” the letter said. “To that end, the ISS must be maintained in a manner that ensures that no part of it will explode or pose a long-term debris hazard.”
“Clearly, further studies need to be conducted before the current Directors can make an informed decision,” they wrote. “Although we are no longer Directors, our question for the current generation is, since the boost stage will have to be built anyway, wouldn’t it be better to use the boost stage to put the ISS into a higher orbit for future generations to use, rather than destroying it on re-entry?”
More details on the destruction of the ISS: NASA hires SpaceX to destroy International Space Station
