Recently, NASA announced that, the International Space Station (ISS) will cease operations in 2031.

Highlights

• In 2031, the spacecraft will fall out of orbit and into the waters of South Pacific Ocean.
• NASA published the transition plan for the ISS. It explained how the operations of ISS will eventually be transitioned to commercial low-Earth orbit destinations.
• The ISS is entering its third and most productive decade as a ground-breaking scientific platform in microgravity.

Background

The International Space Station (ISS) has been orbiting Earth at a speed of around 8 km/second, for more than two decades. International crew of astronauts and cosmonauts onboard have been conducting ground-breaking scientific investigations, that have opened doors for deep space exploration.

When was the spacecraft launched?

ISS was the brainchild of former US President Ronald Reagan. He proposed to build a permanently inhabited spacecraft in 1984, in association with a few other countries. First part of the space station, a control module, was launched into space in 1998, on board a Russian rocket. Following this, crew onboard the US’ Endeavour space shuttle attached the control module with another part called ‘Unity node’. Later, the space station was built in pieces until it was ready to carry a crew onboard. The first crew arrived to ISS on November 2, 2000. Since then, it has carried over 200 astronauts and cosmonauts from 19 different countries.

By: Brijesh Kumar