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posted by janrinok on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the wish-me-luck-as-you-wave-me-bye-bye dept.

A draft budget proposal would end support for the International Space Station (ISS) by 2025. The U.S. was previously committed to operating at the ISS until 2024:

The Trump administration is preparing to end support for the International Space Station program by 2025, according to a draft budget proposal reviewed by The Verge. Without the ISS, American astronauts could be grounded on Earth for years with no destination in space until NASA develops new vehicles for its deep space travel plans.

The draft may change before an official budget request is released on February 12th. However, two people familiar with the matter have confirmed to The Verge that the directive will be in the final proposal. We reached out to NASA for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Also at the Wall Street Journal.

Related: Five Key Findings From 15 Years of the International Space Station
Congress Ponders the Fate of the ISS after 2024
NASA Eyeing Mini Space Station in Lunar Orbit as Stepping Stone to Mars
NASA and Roscosmos Sign Joint Statement on the Development of a Lunar Space Station
Russia Assembles Engineering Group for Lunar Activities and the Deep Space Gateway
Can the International Space Station be Saved? Should It be Saved?


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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Friday January 26 2018, @03:30AM

    by looorg (578) on Friday January 26 2018, @03:30AM (#628068)

    I'm not sure about the science part, one could probably do more or interesting science there if one wanted to. The thing is that the International Space Station is really past its prime, it's been in space now for 20 years (think it's 20 years this year). It was already living on borrowed time. Mir spent only 15 years in orbit, and it seemed like a deathtrap in the end. One would assume modular design has improved on the 70's and 80's designs used and that something was learned from the various mistakes made. So I don't really see why it should be funded forever, better to just start building something new, save or reuse what can be saved (after all it's already up there) and then start a new and learn from what we have learned up there. They have seven years to come up with something now. Russia already suggested doing something new, not sure if NASA is on board with it yet. The Chinese keep sending up their stuff. There are a few others doing minor things to.

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