The ISS has now been continually occupied for 20 years and 16 days?
https://www.google.com/search?q=how...i57j33i160.15038j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I find that an incredible achievement for many reasons, not the least being an example of international co-operation between Nations.
With the continued amazing success of the Russian Soyuz craft and the new Space-X "Dragon" capsule, that should continue, although it need be considered that the ISS maybe approaching its "use by date"? [Last I heard that will be about 2028]
What then?
Latest story .....
https://phys.org/news/2020-11-spacewalking-astronauts-prep-russian-lab.html
Spacewalking astronauts prep for 2021 arrival of Russian lab
The International Space Station's two Russian astronauts ventured out on a spacewalk Wednesday to prepare for next year's arrival of a long-delayed lab.
Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov—dubbed Sergey 1 and Sergey 2 by flight controllers—left four Americans and one Japanese inside. The space station population grew to seven late Monday with the arrival of a SpaceX capsule, making the company's second astronaut flight.
Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov, on their first spacewalk, spent nearly two hours doing extra leak checks before exiting from an air lock. The compartment has been at the space station since 2009 but it was being used for the first time by spacewalkers.
"Congratulations. You are out!" Russian Mission Control radioed from near Moscow.
Russia's old spacewalking compartment will be removed and junked next year to make room for the research lab Nauka—Russian for "science." Several Russian-directed spacewalks will be required to deal with all this. The plan calls for attaching a cargo ship to the old Pirs module in order to guide it to a fiery reentry.
The new 22-ton lab—stretching 43 feet (13 meters) long—is so big that it will be launched from Kazakhstan by a powerful Proton rocket. Once at the orbiting outpost, it will double as an air lock and docking port.
more at link................
https://www.google.com/search?q=how...i57j33i160.15038j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I find that an incredible achievement for many reasons, not the least being an example of international co-operation between Nations.
With the continued amazing success of the Russian Soyuz craft and the new Space-X "Dragon" capsule, that should continue, although it need be considered that the ISS maybe approaching its "use by date"? [Last I heard that will be about 2028]
What then?
Latest story .....
https://phys.org/news/2020-11-spacewalking-astronauts-prep-russian-lab.html
Spacewalking astronauts prep for 2021 arrival of Russian lab
The International Space Station's two Russian astronauts ventured out on a spacewalk Wednesday to prepare for next year's arrival of a long-delayed lab.
Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov—dubbed Sergey 1 and Sergey 2 by flight controllers—left four Americans and one Japanese inside. The space station population grew to seven late Monday with the arrival of a SpaceX capsule, making the company's second astronaut flight.
Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov, on their first spacewalk, spent nearly two hours doing extra leak checks before exiting from an air lock. The compartment has been at the space station since 2009 but it was being used for the first time by spacewalkers.
"Congratulations. You are out!" Russian Mission Control radioed from near Moscow.
Russia's old spacewalking compartment will be removed and junked next year to make room for the research lab Nauka—Russian for "science." Several Russian-directed spacewalks will be required to deal with all this. The plan calls for attaching a cargo ship to the old Pirs module in order to guide it to a fiery reentry.
The new 22-ton lab—stretching 43 feet (13 meters) long—is so big that it will be launched from Kazakhstan by a powerful Proton rocket. Once at the orbiting outpost, it will double as an air lock and docking port.
more at link................
