It has been decided that the International Space Station (ISS) remains operational in Earth orbit until 2020. Experts are now considering the possibility of preserving at least several of its segments to use them for some other space missions after the station splashes down into the ocean.
NASA is currently attempting to convert the new ISS module into a spacecraft to send it to an asteroid as part of a manned mission in 2025. The expedition was proposed by US President Barack Obama in April this year. But as far as deep-space flights are concerned, NASA tends to use exploratory studies left after the secret Constellation lunar program - the Orion crew module and the Ares I rocket, says prominent Russian space expert Igor Lisov.
"Anyway, it was implied that the spacecraft, designed to carry the astronauts to space and then back to Earth, should be made in the image and likeness of the Orion ship, under the Constellation program. And I personally have great doubts that it would be possible to attach some pieces of the International Space Station to it."
The expert added that since the fiscal year 2011 budget has not yet been approved by the US Congress, Obama’s asteroid program is still vague. Meanwhile, President of Russia’s “Energy” Aerospace Corporation Vitaly Lopota proposed a rescue plan for ISS modules after 2020, like, for instance, the multi-purpose laboratory module Russia will launch in 2013, which is unlikely to become outdated by the deadline.
Among other things, Vitaly Lopota suggests detaching the Russian segment from the American modules and supplementing it with a power unit, thus creating an atomic station appropriate for future lunar and Martial missions.
This suggestion was met with much opposition in the US, since along with the Russian modules the ISS will lose the only engine necessary for removing the station from the orbit and splashing it down into the ocean. Spokesman for Roscosmos Russian Federal Space Agency Alexander Vorobyov believes there is no need in destroying the station.
"If the International Space Station is doomed to be utilized, it would be better to send it to the Moon, for example. However, this variant has been poorly studied so far."
Another way is to launch the ISS into higher orbits where it could stay for as much as a thousand years, says Alexander Vorobyov, adding that the drowning of a 370-ton structure may pose a threat to the people of Earth. After 2020, the project’s participants will have to decide whether to keep the station operating further, the expert sais in conclusion.
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