International Space Station set to crash into Pacific Ocean, on purpose

Originally published at: International Space Station set to crash into Pacific Ocean, on purpose | Boing Boing

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“Yeah, we’ve heard THAT one before.” —Australia

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Much love for the ISS and 30 years of service.

Also much love for the touchingly quaint and old-fashioned idea that there will be a 2031! :hugs:

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Oh, there will be 2031. And there will be humans to see it. Whether we will be among them is an open question, and whether our nation (USA) will be extant by then is very much up in the air. But the planet will be fine.

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According to NASA, future low-Earth orbit destinations will be developed and operated by the private sector.

What could possibly go wrong?

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“point nemo” googly_maps at -48.87,-123.39

really can’t just keep recycling modules until the Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets intro??

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According to NASA, future low-Earth orbit destinations will be developed and operated by the private sector.

LEO will effectively be the domain of billionaires at that point. The kind who like to “move fast and break things”.

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By 2031 the ocean will have risen up to meet it.

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“safe atmospheric entry.”

No such thing after Taco Tuesday for me…

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Your response was tongue in cheek I know, but that was a real question I was wondering about - why can’t they just keep replacing pieces a bit at a time until the 2031 (or 41, or 51) station basically is all new?

Turns out the answer is all the plumbing, networking, electrical, etc., is based on 30-year old designs, and it would be prohibitive to try and launch modules with new designs that also could continue to connect to the old, so better to just start over with 2020s tech.

There’s a great channel on YT where someone went through and chronicled the entire ISS construction and operation, from start right up through 2021, with a combination of old footage and Kerbal. I keep meaning to get that up as a Boing Boing post…

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This make sense. When ever I had to work on my house made in the 50s, the shit inside the walls never looked like my Home Depot Fix It guide.

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They should do a Space Ship of Theseus with it

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A shame to read of the future demise of the ISS. We should repair it and keep it afloat as long as possible.

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Said Wim Wenders

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According to NASA, future low-Earth orbit destinations will be developed and operated by the private sector.

Well, there goes the dream of finding our common humanity in space.

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Just sad that they aren’t starting over but rather leave it all up to “the private sector”. If they had wanted I’m sure they could have connected new modules that have no interaction with the existing ones except for the docking ring. That way they could have built a new station without giving up on the relative comfort and roominess of the old one while new modules were added.

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I wonder if they’re also interested in another orbital height or inclination as well?

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I suppose that would make sense if you’re starting over anyway

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