In the 1980s, NASA planned to launch a modular space station named Freedom to rival the Soviet space station Mir. However, in the early 1990s, it evolved into a collaborative project involving NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Throughout its existence, the ISS has been the site of many scientific discoveries and breakthroughs, symbolizing how humans can transcend politics on Earth. The ISS is expected to be retired around 2030 and will be intentionally deconstructed into a thousand pieces before descending into the Pacific Ocean.
NASA is planning to burn up the International Space Station and crash it into the Pacific Ocean sometime around 2030
The International Space Station (ISS), which is estimated to have cost $150 billion, orbits around 400 kilometers above our planet and completes an orbit of the Earth approximately every 90 minutes. It has been constructed over the years through dozens of rocket launches and more than 160 spacewalks. The ISS measures 356 feet in length, making it the largest and most intricate structure in space. Its assembly involved 42 flights, including 37 on U.S. space shuttles and 5 on Russian Proton/Soyuz rockets.
The ISS is comparable in size to a football field and consists of 16 pressurized modules, accommodating living quarters, laboratories, sleeping quarters, bathrooms, a gym, and the cupola, which offers a stunning 360-degree view of Earth.
Since its inception, the ISS has welcomed 280 crew members from 23 different countries and has the capability to continue hosting astronauts for low-gravity experiments or even be repurposed as a space museum. However, due to the structure’s components exceeding their original lifetimes and the increased risk of collision with space debris at higher altitudes, NASA is considering retiring the ISS around 2030.
