Before it comes down, what should be saved from the International Space Station?
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If it all went up on Proton and Shuttle, just disassemble it, load it on Starships and land the pieces, then reassemble on earth.
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Inspiration for the future space plumbers would definitely be valuable (only half in jest, the thing is a marvel of engineering and ingenuity)
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As mentioned, the most commonly used and evocative pieces should be saved, like the cupola, the galley table, the books, and the notebook. But I would look around for the really random and unique things as well. Places where micrometeorites punched holes! Someone's sleeping cubby! Maybe even the dust bunnies that accumulated in corners. There's no telling what people will value 50 years from now when they see it in the Smithsonian, but let's capture what was really distinctive about this long strange trip.
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I imagine that the humiliation of using a microgravity toilet (e.g. learning to aim your nether eye by using a camera with a targeting reticule) will be a prime driver for the development of paragravity (i.e. rotating habitats).
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What about the idea of slowly raising it to a much higher orbit so that it could stay there empty? I've seen some argue for that option.
If humanity occupies orbit more in decades and centuries to come the whole thing could have a orbital museum built round it eventually. It should be preserved for generations to come if feasible not just deorbited.
If humanity occupies orbit more in decades and centuries to come the whole thing could have a orbital museum built round it eventually. It should be preserved for generations to come if feasible not just deorbited.
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I hate the idea that the ISS deorbit is becoming a real thing.. that's coming up fast.
It'll be such an incalculable and irreplaceable loss for humanity.. we couldn't replicate it with current capabilities, even if we had the will and resources (which we don't). What comes next will be a pale imitation at best.
It'll be such an incalculable and irreplaceable loss for humanity.. we couldn't replicate it with current capabilities, even if we had the will and resources (which we don't). What comes next will be a pale imitation at best.
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The ISS was a white elephant, I'm not sure an imitation can be any paler.
The only thing that separates the ISS from other gigantic boondoggles like the Lunar Gateway and SLS is it made for some great in space photography which people responded to.
We could absolutely replicate the ISS but nobody would want to because the whole giant edifice was built as a scaffolding for more interesting modules that were never delivered due to cost cutting.
The only thing of value that the ISS delivered was commercial resupply and commercial crew.
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All that does it create more debris in a higher orbit that will last longer, when it inevitably breaks apart. It's under gone huge amount of thermal cycling. Its not a case of if it will break up but when, and whether we do it intentionally in a controlled manner.
Not to mention the huge amount of fuel needed to raise its orbit. At least deorbitting can take advantage of the Earth's atmosphere to save fuel.
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Oh man. Everybody watched Space Oddity, but I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) always hit harder for me:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvAnfi8WpVE
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SirDanglyBits
Smack-Fu Master, in training
Ah yes, definitly bring back the bowl attached to the shop vac that they called a toilet.
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Fun for us amateurs to speculate, but really, get the archaeologists and museologists involved.
And biologists: bring back multiple samples of the evolved microbiome on board.
And biologists: bring back multiple samples of the evolved microbiome on board.
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Its funny, but that fish-eye shot of a loaded Dragon sort of spun my head just a bit.
"Wait a minute, there's empty space in there!!!"
I've always had the mental image that a cargo load to the station went up full to the brim: and that when they opened the cargo hatch it was basically "full to the nose" with pull bag after bag after bag out until they eventually empty it.
(sort of like how one's father would stuff the car's trunk to the fill line before going on a family vacation)
I know, of course, that's not how they do it: but still makes for a fun image
"Wait a minute, there's empty space in there!!!"
I've always had the mental image that a cargo load to the station went up full to the brim: and that when they opened the cargo hatch it was basically "full to the nose" with pull bag after bag after bag out until they eventually empty it.
(sort of like how one's father would stuff the car's trunk to the fill line before going on a family vacation)
I know, of course, that's not how they do it: but still makes for a fun image
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I've watched that a few times, and every single time I watch it, I think of the audio engineering required to handle the transit delay on the downlink from the ISS...
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Yep It's Me
Ars Praetorian
My guiding principle, if I got to decide, would be "What item(s), viewed through the eyes of a child, would inspire them to reach higher?"
Also there's a quote in the article that saddens me a little (emphasis in quote mine)...
The term is ticker, not ticket; I wish he's used the right term. It comes from the very old bygone practice on Wall Street of receiving stock trade information on a device that spooled out a continuous trail of paper known as a ticker tape. During parades, people would gather up the piles of ticker tape in their office and stream them out the window.
Also there's a quote in the article that saddens me a little (emphasis in quote mine)...
The term is ticker, not ticket; I wish he's used the right term. It comes from the very old bygone practice on Wall Street of receiving stock trade information on a device that spooled out a continuous trail of paper known as a ticker tape. During parades, people would gather up the piles of ticker tape in their office and stream them out the window.
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Speaking as an outsider, an EVA suit should be on the list. One of the toilets would be interesting. As much as I'd love to save the cupola there isn't a ride home for it. I never would have thought of the galley table or the notebook, which only proves that people closer to the program should have first say because often it's the little things that are most precious.
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