The International Space Station has its name for a reason. The orbiting laboratory has hosted astronauts from all over the world over its many years in use. As new hardware has been installed on the spacecraft, its capabilities have grown and much scientific research is being conducted. Over the years, the United States (NASA) and Russia (Roscosmos) have been the two main partners that keep the space station running. Now one of those partners is weighing the heavy decision to withdraw. Hint: it’s not NASA.
As Russian news agency TASS reports, Russian officials have decided it is time for the country to decide to withdraw the International Space Station. The decision will reportedly come after a technical inspection and examination of the spacecraft itself, a number of crunches and a risk assessment. Simply put, Russia no longer believes the space station is suitable for long-term research efforts, and as of 2025 it may no longer feel comfortable sending its scientists there.
At least a little bit of information seems to be lost in the translation of the original Russian reports and what is reported on some news sites. Some outlets say Russia has already decided to leave the station, while others quote Russian officials as still weighing the decision. Be that as it may, it is clear that Russia is no longer “all-in” on the ISS and that sentiment is attributed to the technical status of the spacecraft itself.
Russia has conducted risk assessments for the spacecraft in the recent past, and some of the country’s top specialists have predicted the “failure of numerous elements aboard the ISS” after the year 2025. The country has already agreed to work with NASA and its other partners on the ISS project until at least 2024, after which it may decide that enough is enough.
In any case, a statement from Roscosmos does not offer much certainty:
“We have 2024 as an agreed time limit with our partners for the work of the ISS. After that, decisions will be made based on the technical condition of the station’s modules, which have largely worn out their life, as well as our plans to deploy a next-generation national orbital service station. “
It would be interesting to see what NASA would do if their main ISS partner decides to withdraw from the program in 2025. The spacecraft has spent more than two decades in space and has gradually grown as NASA and Russia expanded it, added more scientific equipment, and tested various modules for usability. Many new discoveries have been made during his time in space, but no one would argue that this is the most modern machine orbiting the Earth. Leaks have surfaced repeatedly, especially on the Russian side of the spacecraft. It will eventually have to be completely replaced, but no one really knows when that will happen. For now, it’s still the go-to for scientists who need to work in microgravity.
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See the original version of this article at BGR.com