What Will Happen to The ISS?

After more than two decades buzzing around above our heads, the life of the ISS will soon be coming to a close. But what does that actually look like? And what does it mean for the future of space experimentation?

Hosted By: Reid Reimers
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[Charmlethehedgehog]

The ISS coming to an end isn't sad for me. What's sad is the fact it's not being replaced by another station operated in the same manner. The ISS is probably the closest thing we've gotten to peace on/around this blue marble, and to see it die and have commercial satellites take its place is depressing :/

[Max]

One of the saddest thing for me is that we cannot land parts of it back on Earth. Having one or more of the main modules and being able to go in it would be amazing in a museum.

[eyelnne]

I'm already sad just knowing it's ending soon. It's like losing an aging hero or a teacher that really engaged me in science. Thank you ISS, and all who ran and serviced it.

[det.halligan]

It's crazy to think that it won't be in the sky anymore. I was born in '96 so for the past quarter of a century, whenever the ISS was brought up, I always thought it was a marvel of modern technology, but I also thought it was normal, a given, because it has been around longer than I've been alive. But to think that in less than a decade it'll be gone? Maybe it'll shine a new perspective on how forward-thinking and ahead of its time the ISS really was.

[fnln-namaemyouji]

Fun fact: Point Nemo is essentially exactly the location given for the house at R'lyeh where dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.

I'm not saying there has been a giant multinational conspiracy to keep crashing satellites onto a great old one to keep it from waking up.

But I am saying that would be a hell of a hook for a modern eldritch horror + science fantasy book.

[idraote]

It seems like dystopian SF stories are spot on, after all.
Delegating space exploration to private companies creates a massive ethical knot not to mention the legal implications of such a decision.

Private companies need to make a profit and that is almost always at odds with true scientific research.
The space should belong to the whole of humanity, not to boards of directors.

[MewtwoExMasterMusic]

Salute to the space machines that have shed light into the dark mysteries of our universe.

[PGflips]

It would be interesting to see what is on the seabed around point nemo

[Moose_]

Can you do a run down of the best experiments and discoveries that have come from the ISS?

[pedroscoponi]

The idea of replacing the efforts of multiple national goverments with privately owned stations... hmm, I don't think I like it.
Would be cool if we could fish all these wrecks out of the water and either display or recicle them... But that sounds like a big project in it's own right 😅

[sophiaberinski]

Thank you for an amazing video! It's very sad to see that privatising space is going to take place - the ISS has always been a beacon of hope for me, even during the darkest times, to see it go is heartbreaking (without having something to inherit its spirit). I truly hope that NASA, as well as all other space agencies, will overthink their decisions on this matter and strive for another joint scape mission. That is if we overlook the fact that private companies are interested in making money, which will definitely lead us to fraud, lies, fake discoveries which will be more financially suitable for them than real facts and science, yet another race between countries and private organisations without a single through for international cooperation and scientific integration.

[scaper]

I’m surprised that the international community wouldn’t want to build a new space station to succeed the ISS.

[jamesadams]

It’s such a shame. This ISS has been wonderful center of discovery and scientific progress through its life. I’ll never understand why we can’t just upgrade it like we do everything else. Humanity has always found a way otherwise. It’ll be a sad day when it’s decommissioned. I actually always thought, that the ISS would be one of those things we kept for all time or rather at least a century or two. Well done on the video!

[rodrigoborges]

Loathe the idea that this massively successful international scientific collaboration will be replaced by privately ran space resorts that NASA will then have to rent.

[tylerr.]

For those asking "why don't we just launch it out into space?"

We probably could, but the fuel and resources it would take to get the ISS into a stable orbit where we don't have to risk it crashing into anything would be insanely expensive. The environmental impact of the fuel alone would probably be offset by just crashing it into the ocean.

Most of the modules are probably not recoverable either, for those wondering. None of them are designed for re-entry. Large amounts of heat shielding and structural supports would have to be added. And again, the cost it would take to do that just isn't realistic both from a financial and environmental perspective.

[b.sylphaen]

It would be awesome if you made a video listing all the discoveries made by the ISS. I have heard of a few experiments run there, but not much else.

[Add_Infinitum]

I hope they make another one. The ISS is iconic, a display of the strength of the global scientific community, and commercialized space stations just... don't sound as impressive.

[ericthompson]

Considering the massive technological leaps between Skylab and ISS, I am fascinated to see the next generation research station. Thanks for everything, ISS. I've seen you overhead once and was absolutely humbled. You've been a pleasure to watch.

[lesleyghostdragon]

Minute 1:18 - I love that various types of duct tape are hanging front and center in the ISS's Maintenance Work Station. On earth AND in space, it really does fix everything! In fact, it's probably the real metric for when the ISS will need to be decommissioned: "Houston, we have a problem...that not even duct tape can fix..."

[ronkirk]

It is comforting to know that aged out space craft are not just allowed to crash to Earth willy nilly with hopes of a complete burn-up in the atmosphere, but rather, controllers actually aim for Point Nemo when they de-orbit them. I'm of an age to remember when parts of the old Skylab crashed into Australia and that's not a neighborly thing to do.