The ISS carries scientists who perform research that can only be done in the weak gravity of space, like medical research. The structure of the ship is also extremely important to the people who work there. NASA astronaut Megan McArthur doing an experiment on the ISS on May 26, 2021.
And every time we dock a vehicle and undock a vehicle, the thermal environment puts stresses and loads on that primary structure that will eventually make it wear out," said Gatens. It is affected by the environment that it's in. "The big structure, even though it's doing very well, has a finite lifetime. And something of that size is costly for NASA to maintain. Gatens says the structure of the space station – which is the size of a football field – is what can't be upgraded and replaced. All the computer power at the beginning is nothing compared to what can be done today." He said, "NASA has already changed the solar panels at least once and switched them from these very large arrays that produce relatively little power, to these smaller arrays that produce much more power. Paulo Lozano is the director of the Space Propulsion Laboratory at MIT and an aerospace engineer. The view from NASA spacewalker Thomas Marshburn's camera points downward toward the ISS on December 2, 2021. NASA would then transition to purchasing services from commercial entities as opposed to the government building a next-generation commercial space station. McCalister says the ISS could stay in space longer, but it's much more cost-effective for NASA to acquire a brand new station with new technology. "We want to turn those things over to other organizations that could potentially do it more cost-effectively, and then focus our research and activities on deep space exploration," said McCalister. Phil McCalister, director of the Commercial Space Division of NASA, told NPR's Morning Edition that NASA does not want to own in perpetuity everything in low-Earth orbit – which is up to 1,200 miles above Earth's surface. Progress photos showing the Axiom Space station being built.īut any company that is able to develop their own space station, get approval from the federal government and launch it into space will be able to pursue their own deep space missions – even without the approval of NASA.