- #1
- 7
- 0
I heard somewhere on here that they were going to not use or get rid of the space station anymore. Is that true? 
NASA have been thinking about that for a while. With the announcment that the shuttles were retiring however they've been able to accelerate programs. I think they've opted for the Orion CEV as the shuttle replacement. Its seems hardly an adequate replacement however. The original concept for the shuttle replacement was the X-33 which never got off the ground because of design problems.Well what will replace the shuttle? I mean, the shuttle was pretty effective in transporting people up to ISS, but are they now planning to use conventional rockets or is there a new technology coming up?
The size and mission of ISS has changed with each administration since Reagan. Originally the SS was going to be a stage for future manned space exploration, ostensibly Moon and Mars. Well that has yet to happen.I heard somewhere on here that they were going to not use or get rid of the space station anymore. Is that true?![]()
The ISS has a huge atmospheric drag cross section, making it lose about 100 meters of altitude per day. The ISS has to be reboosted to a higher altitude several times per year. This is currently done by thrusters on the ISS or by a visiting vehicle docked to the ISS. The reboosts are clearly visible in this plot of the ISS attitude over the last year.In the long term, ISS will have to be boosted to slightly higher orbit, otherwise it will decay and re-enter earth's atmosphere like Skylab did. The boosting system will need to be low thrust and such a system has yet to be developed.