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The International Space Station (ISS)

Russia’s head of their space program is threatening to crash the International Space Station into Europe.

https://www.the-sun.com/tech/4770269/iss-russia-nasa-fall-us-europe

This is The Sun, take anything they say with a grain of salt. Even in the body of the text you will see he makes no such threat, he claims that Russian expertise would be needed if there was a problem with the ISS. Also peace seems to have broken out on the high frontier, sanctions won't affect cooperation regarding the ISS.
 
This is The Sun, take anything they say with a grain of salt. Even in the body of the text you will see he makes no such threat, he claims that Russian expertise would be needed if there was a problem with the ISS. Also peace seems to have broken out on the high frontier, sanctions won't affect cooperation regarding the ISS.
The guys up there are scientists, so I think they will do whatever is reasonable.
 
Russia has apparently formally announced it will be pulling out of the ISS project / program.
Russia will pull out of the International Space Station, space agency chief confirms

Russia has confirmed it will pull out of the International Space Station (ISS), perhaps as soon as two years from now, because of the sanctions imposed on it after its invasion of Ukraine, according to news reports.

"The decision has already been made, we are not obliged to talk about it publicly," Dmitry Rogozin, the director-general of the federal Roscosmos space agency, told the state-owned Rossiya-24 TV channel on Saturday (April 30) ...

Rogozin didn't say when Russia's involvement in the ISS project will come to an end, although he affirmed it would give at least a year's notice "in accordance with our obligations." ...
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/russia-to-leave-international-space-station-chief-says
 
Well, they did it to themselves. Got no sympathy!
 

Girl, 8, makes contact with ISS using dad’s ham radio – and gets a response

An eight-year-old girl from Kent was delighted to chat with an astronaut on board the International Space Station using her Dad’s amateur radio kit.

Isabella Payne had a 45-second conversation with Kjell Lindgren while he passed over her house earlier this month.

And American Dr Lindgren tweeted from space that the conversation was among his ‘favourite contacts so far.’

It is highly unusual for amateur radio users to get in contact with astronauts on the facility, but Isbaella’s enthusiastic father Matthew managed to set up the interaction – and admitted he was a little jealous of his daughter.

Isabella, from Broadstairs, said today: ‘It was really amazing and a dream come true.

‘I can’t wait to tell my friends all about it. I hope it inspires other young girls to do science as it should be for both girls and boys.’
The youngster had been inspired after meeting British astronaut Tim Peake when she was just two-years-old.

The schoolgirl was asleep before the chat six years later, but her excited Dad came in to wake her up.

She told the astronaut: ‘My name is Isabella, I’m eight-years-old.’

Dr Lindgren replied: ‘Isabella it’s so great to chat with you. Thank you for getting on the radio and saying hello.’

She added: ‘Thank you, fly safe.’

The astronaut replied: ‘Thank you Isabella.’

Matthew said organising an unscheduled contact with someone on the ISS is difficult.

He explained: ‘It’s very unusual and may happen once every five or six years.

‘Everything has to line up and then you have to have an astronaut on board using the equipment and who’s willing to chat.
‘It was such a great experience for Isabella.

‘Today she got her chance. Thank you so much Kjell Lindgren, you have changed her world.’

Dr Lindgren quote tweeted Matthew’s post and added: ‘I’ve had a lot of fun using the ARISS amateur radio station NA1SS on the International Space Station to talk with ham radio operators all over the world.

‘I’ve even unofficially worked stations on all continents.

‘But this may be my favorite contact so far. Thanks Isabella and Matthew.’
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I've often heard that the ISS has to make adjustments to its orbit from time to time, and I've wondered what that must be like for the astronauts; how fast it occurs, whether they have to prepare for it. Anyway, I thought perhaps I should just Google that. I discovered it's called a 'reboost', and predictably, they use the entire space station moving around them as an opportunity to lark about.

EDITED TO ADD:
 
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The Soyuz capsule attached to the ISS which seats 3 people has lost it coolant and is no good now.

The Space X Dragon capsule attached to to the ISS seats 4.

There is a 7 member crew aboard, so in an emergency who stays and who goes ?

Will they draw straws in an emergency ?
 
The Soyuz capsule attached to the ISS which seats 3 people has lost it coolant and is no good now.

The Space X Dragon capsule attached to to the ISS seats 4.

There is a 7 member crew aboard, so in an emergency who stays and who goes ?

Will they draw straws in an emergency ?

Elon musk will rescue them!
 
The Soyuz capsule attached to the ISS which seats 3 people has lost it coolant and is no good now.

The Space X Dragon capsule attached to to the ISS seats 4.

There is a 7 member crew aboard, so in an emergency who stays and who goes ?

Will they draw straws in an emergency ?
The Russians should all go first, because Russia is no longer going to be participating in the ISS.
The Soyuz could either be sent down to burn up, or it could be used as storage space. Maybe all the stuff they discard could be stored there.
 
The camera arm the ISS spotted a small hole on the outside coolant system of the Soyuz capsule.

It is thought that space debris hit the capsule emphasizing the extremely hazardous conditions of traveling in outer space.

The Soyuz lost its coolant in 3 hours.

If I was on the ISS, I would be concerned about not enough emergency seating.
 
They'll send a self-driving spacecraft.

Russia's space agency says it is considering sending an empty spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) to bring home three crew members ahead of schedule, after their Soyuz capsule started leaking.

Roscosmos and Nasa said it was unclear how the external radiator on the spacecraft sustained a tiny puncture. They have ruled out the impact of a meteor. The leak started as two cosmonauts were preparing for a routine spacewalk.

A decision is yet to be made about how exactly the three crew members will be brought back to Earth. The most likely option is to send another Soyuz spacecraft to collect them.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64072575
 
What could possibly go wrong?
(sorry about the CBBC link but I couldn't be arsed to find a more grown-up link. Just pretend you are 7 when you read it)

Nasa plans to deorbit the ISS by using a 'space tug'.
After its deorbit, the remains of the ISS will then burn up in a safe area in the Earth's atmosphere over the South Pacific ocean.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/64976038
 
On Sunday three privately paying space tourists paid 55 million dollars each to go to the ISS for a week stay.

Space-X took the tourists to the ISS.
 
Building a replacement for the ISS.

Airbus and US space exploration firm Voyager Space announced Wednesday a joint venture to develop Starlab, a commercial alternative to replace the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade.

The US-led venture with footing in Germany, where a number of Airbus Defence and Space sites are located, will "reliably meet the known demand from global space agencies while opening new opportunities for commercial users," Matthew Kuta, president of Voyager Space, said in a statement.

In replacing the ISS, NASA plans to purchase services rather than manage programs itself, as it already does with sending astronauts into space.

Voyager won a $160 million contract from NASA at the end of 2021 to develop Starlab.

NASA has also awarded $130 million to Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, and $126 million to the giant Northrop Grumman to develop their own space station projects.

US-firm Axiom Space is also developing a station with support from NASA and the Franco-Italian firm Thales Alenia Space.

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-airbus-partners-voyager-space-iss.html
 
I know the ISS is 'getting on a bit' now, but some of the additions are more recent than the rest, along with a whole load of other useful 'kit', such as the solar panels etc.

Surely it would be most sensible to try and repurpose the ISS, or at least the stuff that is still fairly modern, than to de-orbit the whole shebang? What a waste.
 
I know the ISS is 'getting on a bit' now, but some of the additions are more recent than the rest, along with a whole load of other useful 'kit', such as the solar panels etc.

Surely it would be most sensible to try and repurpose the ISS, or at least the stuff that is still fairly modern, than to de-orbit the whole shebang? What a waste.

maybe sell the old ISS to Musk, Bozois or branson?
 
Musk would be the only buyer capable of re-using the ISS as he has already launched multiple missions there.
Dragon has done over 20 supply flights so far, so Space X is already well used to the tech.
Jeff Bozo hasn't been much further than 'straight up' and 'back down again'.
Branson couldn't even manage a single launch of a rocket (but we know that was down to the rocket itself, not the support systems provided by Virgin), and his other craft is little more than a capsule/aeroplane/rocket hybrid that also doesn't really go anywhere.
 
Surgery in space proves to be an elastic concept.

Earth-bound surgeons remotely controlled a small robot aboard the International Space Station over the weekend, conducting the first-ever such surgery in orbit—albeit on rubber bands.

The experiment, deemed a "huge success" by the participants, represents a new step in the development of space surgery, which could become necessary to treat medical emergencies during multi-year manned voyages, such as to Mars. The technology could also be used to develop remote-control surgery techniques on Earth, to serve isolated areas.

The robot, developed by Virtual Incision (VIC) and the University of Nebraska, is called spaceMIRA. It took off for the International Space Station at the end of January, aboard a payload carried by a SpaceX rocket. Stored inside a compact box the size of a microwave oven, the robot was installed last Thursday by NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, who has been in space since last September.

The experiment then took place on Saturday, conducted from Virtual Incision's headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska. ...

https://phys.org/news/2024-02-space-surgery-doctors-ground-robot.html
 
Another air leak,

Russia's space agency said on Wednesday that its section of the International Space Station is again suffering an air leak issue, but said the problem currently poses no threat to its crew.

"Indeed, specialists are detecting an air leak on board the ISS," the press service of Roscosmos said on Wednesday, per a translation by Interfax. "There is no threat to crewmembers or the station itself," Roscosmos added. Space officials said Russian crew are "regularly" working to identify and fix potential leaks on the ISS, per state media agency TASS.

The announcement came shortly after National American Space Agency ISS Program Manager Joel Montalbano on the same day reported an air leak in Russia's Zvezda life support module during a press briefing for the new Crew-8 mission.According to Montalbano, the leak is small but growing.

"There is an area at the end of the International Space Station that we've seen a leak. There is a small leak. We saw a leak increase about a week before the recent Progress launch and docking," he said.

Montalbano added that NASA was working with Roscosmos on the issue and that the leak is neither affecting crew safety nor disrupting the Crew-8 mission, which aims to send four astronauts to the ISS. NASA and Roscosmos found an air leak in Russia's side of the ISS in August 2020. It was in the Zvezda module, which provides critical life support like oxygen and water.

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-iss-has-sprung-an-air-leak-but-nasa-says-theres-no-need-to-panic
 
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