The International Space Station contributed data to science, kept 200 souls alive in space
and, travelled more than 1.5 billion miles.
I think that's pretty good, right?
Let's pack it in.
Back in 2010, the U.S. considered abandoning the ISS because of problems with the Russian-made
Soyuz launch vehicles, and political fights have caused tension since then too.
Russia has just signed on to continue supporting the International Space Station until 2024
rather than building a Russian-only station.
The International Space Station is an incredible piece of multinational technology, with former
nemeses coming together to create this football-field-sized scientific space camp.
But it's expensive, and not getting any younger… or cheaper.
Plans to build the ISS began in 1993 and it was completed in 2011.
It's larger than a six bedroom house and weighs almost a million pounds.
A rotating crew of humans have been sheltered in the station continuously since 2000, creating
the need for 130-plus launches to build and supply the place.
The ISS is the single most expensive man-made object in existence; costing 160 billion dollars
to date.
The U.S. ponied up $100 billion, while Japan, Canada, Europe and Russia chipped in for the
rest.
That's a huge drawback in a lot of eyes.
Is a 90s-era piece of solar-powered science technology worth keeping around?
The damn thing was running WindowsXP until 2013!
Now it's on Linux.
In a word, yes.
Though the station is not without its problems -- according to one NASA Administrator, micrometeoroids
and orbital debris are a concern and the solar arrays already look like a QUOTE "west Texas
stop sign," but it's the only microgravity lab we have, and simply by existing it's fostering
political cooperation between 15 countries and creating jobs the world over.
Building the ISS was really hard, and that drove people to invent new technology and
create new science.
Since the first crew arrived, the ISS has hosted more than 200 people who've completed
over 180 spacewalks and 278 research projects comprising 1000 experiments,; each one teaching
us about our planet or the life upon it, how it all fits together, how our organisms survive
in space AND how they survive on Earth.
Maintaining and supporting these intrepid explorers is great for jobs in research, science,
engineering, manufacturing, and even vocational skills both at home and abroad.
Commercial space alone is said to create nearly 12-thousand jobs a year!
And space-based research led to vaccines for salmonella and antibiotic resistant bacteria,
new ways to treat cancer, robotic surgical techniques, and on and on.
According to the NASA Administrator in charge of the ISS -- they can conceivably keep it
maintained and working until 2024, but after that it's iffy.
The components should survive until 2028, NASA says, and the next 10 years will be filled
with even MORE experiments on the humans living in space, the Earth's climate, and getting
humans into deep space.
If we want to visit asteroids or go to Mars, we need to learn more about how microgravity
affects humans; what better place than a science lab in microgravity!?
With NASA and the ISS's help, private space companies will compete to get up there, driving
down costs to get to low-earth orbit!
Even politicians are on board with keeping the station flying, recognizing it shows America
QUOTE "continues to hold the high ground."
And over time we're going to see MORE return on the investment as this is the early stages
of ISS experiments
In 15 years or so, the ISS will likely have to be de-orbited -- or purposefully crashed
into the ocean.
That will be a sad day.
But for now, the ISS is our last best hope, for space science.
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