SpaceX builds ships to help destroy the ISS

Elon Musk’s company was awarded a contract worth $843 million by NASA to develop and supply a spacecraft called the US Suborbital Vehicle (USDV), which will help destroy the ISS station when it “retires” in 2030. .

“Selection of USDV for the ISS will help NASA and our international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition to low Earth orbit when the station is decommissioned,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA administrator. NASA will own the USDV once SpaceX builds it and will control its operations throughout the mission.

Based on previous observations of how other space stations like Mir and Skylab decay when reentering the atmosphere, the NASA engineering team predicts the ISS will decay in three stages. First, the giant solar panels and radiators that keep the station cool will come off. Next, each module broke off the truss frame – the station’s backbone structure. Eventually, the truss and the modules themselves begin to disintegrate.

Most of the material will burn up and vaporize in the atmosphere, but larger pieces may make it through. So NASA plans to crash the ISS into an area in the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, one of the most remote places on earth and known as the graveyard of satellites and spacecraft.

Weighing about 430,000 kg, the ISS is the largest structure ever built in space. The first part of the ISS was launched in 1998, after which the station was gradually completed. Since 2001, the station has continuously welcomed international crews to live and work.

The US, Japan, Canada and countries in the European Space Agency (ESA) have committed to operating the ISS until 2030. However, Russia only committed to operating until 2028. In April this year, the director NASA Bill Nelson believes that with the tense US-Russian relationship, they should be cautious and begin developing an American sub-orbital vehicle to pull the station down safely, without letting the station hit anyone or anything. how.