Elon Musk's SpaceX has won an $843 million NASA bid to build a spacecraft that can safely shoot down and destroy the International Space Station.
The bidding took place in several rounds, was announced in March 2023, and was reopened for bids in September. The grant amount is intended only for spacecraft development, not for launch and other costs of the mission. According to NASA, the goal is to ensure the safe dismantling of the International Space Station at the end of its operational life in 2030. Parts of the station will collide in the atmosphere in a controlled manner after dismantling, with the pieces reaching the surface and falling into the sea.
In announcing the winner, NASA employees emphasized the importance of the International Space Station and its timeless scientific merits, and saw that a new era would begin after the station, in which space laboratories affiliated with various private companies would assume the role of research and development.
Age of Giants
The ISS orbits at an altitude of 410 kilometers and orbits the planet every 90 minutes. Weighing 430 tons, it is the largest spacecraft ever built by mankind. During its construction, technical experience gained from the Soviet Mir and American Skylab stations was combined. The structure consists of 16 modules, including 6 Russian, 8 American, one Japanese and one European. The first element, Zarja, was installed in November 1998. The last, also Russian Nauka, will be launched in the summer of 2021.
The construction itself brought about serious technical advances, and the scientific research conducted here covered a great deal. The medical aspect of human spaceflight – from the circulatory system, bones, and immune system to behavior – was explored in such depth that the list of topics alone would go beyond the scope of this article. Geological and geophysical measurements were made, and experiments in quantum physics, microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology, and materials physics were conducted on board. A typical example of the results achieved here is that a private company successfully tested a technology with which they were able to create an artificial retina in weightlessness, the implantation of which will one day restore vision in cases of retinitis pigmentosa, which causes blindness.
The participants pledged to maintain the station until 2030. Russia, which played a major role in the construction, agreed to participate until 2028. An important factor in this was its aggression against Ukraine, which led to international political tensions and the isolation of the country – at one time it seemed that the space station would be
The last direct link between the United States and Russia.
In recent years, the station will remain for the Americans. During the demolition process, first the larger solar panels and cooling equipment are removed, then the modules are separated from the steel grid structure that forms the backbone of the station, and finally the grid itself is dismantled as well. The majority of the falling pieces are sufficient and crushed upon reaching the atmosphere. If all goes according to plan, the larger pieces will land in a space marine graveyard called Point Nemo.
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