Description

Highlights

The spacecraft will fall out of orbit in 2031 and into the South Pacific Ocean's seas.

The ISS transition plan was issued by NASA, it outlined how the International Space Station's functions will be transferred to commercial low-Earth orbit destinations in the future.

As a ground-breaking research platform in microgravity, the ISS is approaching its third and most productive decade.

Background

For more than two decades, the International Space Station (ISS) has been circling Earth at a speed of roughly 8 kilometres per second. On-board, an international team of astronauts and cosmonauts has been performing ground-breaking scientific research that has paved the way for deep space travel.

When did the spaceship take off?

Former US President Ronald Reagan conceived of the International Space Station (ISS). In 1984, he suggested to create a permanently inhabited spaceship with the help of a few other countries. In 1998, a Russian rocket put the first section of the space station, a control module, into orbit. Following that, the crew of the US space shuttle Endeavour linked the control module to another component known as the 'Unity node.' The space station was later assembled in sections until it was ready to carry a crew. On November 2, 2000, the first crew arrived at the International Space Station. It has flown more than 200 astronauts and cosmonauts from 19 different countries since then.

The space station's mass

According to NASA, the space station on Earth weighs around a million pounds. It's the same size as a football field in the United States. The spacecraft can accommodate a six-person crew as well as tourists. Laboratory modules from the United States, Japan, Russia, and Europe are included.

Tenure Extension

The ISS was supposed to stay operational for 15 years. NASA, on the other hand, decided to prolong its stay in space for another ten years in 2014.

ISS is being phased out

According to NASA, the ISS will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in January 2031. Mission control will reduce the craft's altitude before beginning its fall into the 'South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area (SPOUA),' which is located around Point Nemo. The ISS crew will execute a re-entry burn and give the last push to lower the space station.

ISS's replacement

The International Space Station will be replaced by one or more privately owned and operated space platforms.

The spacecraft 

NASA's Cold Atom Lab became the first facility in space to synthesise the fifth form of matter, known as a Bose-Einstein condensate, in 2018.

A NASA astronaut sequenced DNA for the first time in space in 2016.

Advanced water filtration and purification technologies, as well as successful crop production endeavours on board the International Space Station, have provided valuable insights for people throughout the globe who lack access to these essential resources.

Point Nemo 

Point Nemo serves as a type of space graveyard, where retired space trash is frequently interred. Its 2,700 kilometres away from the nearest land. The location was named after a figure from the novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" by Jules Verne.

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