ISS to be sunk after 2020: Russian space agency

http://www.physorg.com ^ | 07-27-2011 | Staff

[Iron Munro]

Put it in orbit around the moon.

[GQuagmire]

You’re no fun......

[molson209]

Didn’t take long for the Russians to take control of the ISS. Next they’ll stop Spacex and others from docking at the ISS.

[buccaneer81]

Put it in orbit around the moon.

Google "Escape Velocity."

[BitWielder1]

As much as I'd hate to see all that expensive hardware wasted, there is a small matter of maintenance cost.
It ain't cheap keeping a space station in working order.

What we need is a much more robust and permanent outpost in a higher orbit that won't decay so fast and better launch vehicles to get there.
I'm hoping that the niche the shuttle is leaving behind will be filled by something better.
If the gov't can avoid interfering (fat chance), we might just get it.

[CharlyFord]

Can’t they just shoot it out into space? Was a waste of time and money anyway—should have been stomping around on Mars by now.

That was the original plan.

The Shuttle would haul the parts needed, for a Mars exploration vehicle, up to the ISS, where the Mars vehicle would be assembled. The thinking was that a vehicle large enough to house astronauts for many months would be too large and heavy to boost into orbit as one piece. The staff needed to assemble the Mars vehicle would live in the ISS.

Then, after the astronauts returned from Mars, many months later, they would live in isolation on the ISS until it was determined that they were not contaminated.

If you like science fiction, watch some of the movies where humans are departing Earth for deep space travel. They depart Earth from an orbiting space facility. That's what the ISS was supposed to be.

The Shuttle and ISS were never used as originally planned. The original plans were trashed during the Carter Administration. If you got a bitch about what the Shuttle and ISS didn't do, take it up with him.

[Talisker]

Space junk is becoming an increasingly serious headache. A piece of space debris narrowly missed the space station last month in a rare incident that forced the six-member crew to scramble to their rescue craft.

LOL, yeah, I'll bet it is.

[Red Badger]

That looks like a bagel........

[iowamark]

The ISS accomplished nothing scientifically. There was no reason for another low earth orbit space station. We already had Skylab in the 1970’s and that was a waste also.

[Red Badger]

I remember what a Russian cosmonaut said about Mir when asked what they did on it.
He replied, “You eat, sleep, and fix Mir.”..........

[Cheetahcat]

Now just how? are we going to build a new ship in ,the Kenyan model out of cow dung and sticks!

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

The ISS accomplished nothing scientifically. There was no reason for another low earth orbit space station. We already had Skylab in the 1970’s and that was a waste also.

I would take it a step further. We have gained nothing scientifically from being in space. The scientific gains we've made have been from trying to get into space.

Sure, we went to the moon and brought back a bunch of rocks which told us what we already knew about the moon. And, we also left a laser reflector on the moon's surface so we can measure it's precise orbit.

Beyond sight-seeing trips, there's no reason to put people into space. Nothing can be done in space that can't be done cheaper and faster right here on earth.

[deks]

Free Tacos for U.S. If Mir Hits Floating Taco Bell Ocean Target - Taco Bell sets 40 by 40 foot target in South Pacific for Mir’s Re-Entry

Source: Taco Bell Corp. Posted Monday, March 19, 2001

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=4152

[CodeToad]

LOL! I bet a bunch of SpceCom guys and thinking about that right now!