The rapid rise of the Chinese space station, and the acceleration of the aging of the international space station, a very sharp contrast, one is a thriving new space station, the future can be expected, the other is an accident-prone old space station, time is not much, so, activated a topic of interest to everyone: when will the International Space Station be retired?
Now, NASA has finally officially announced a blockbuster news: the International Space Station will be officially retired in January 2031, when the 444615 kilogram behemoth will leave the 400-kilometer high low Earth orbit, and then fall controlled to the "spacecraft graveyard" located in the deep sea uninhabited area of the South Pacific.
Somewhat surprisingly, the design life of the International Space Station is only 15 years, from 1998 to this year's use of 24 years, it is already overdue service, initially, the International Space Station decommissioning time is planned around 2024, later, the decommissioning time has been extended to around 2028, and now, the decommissioning time is determined in January 2031.
This is also very reasonable, the Chinese space station will replace the International Space Station sooner or later, 18 countries have obtained the qualification to enter the Chinese space station, but there is no United States, not that China deliberately wants to keep the United States out, but the United States is still following the "Wolf Treaty" and does not want to show sincerity of cooperation, so that the International Space Station has become the last "straw" of the United States.
However, the International Space Station is indeed too old, in the past year, there have been many failures, even the cabin also wafted a "disgusting" smell, which has been confirmed by the American astronaut Victor Glover, Victor Glover exposed that the International Space Station module has a very strong smell, comparable to a hospital.
Victor Glover took the Crew-1 Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station in November 2020, where he served as a flight engineer, and on May 2, 2021, his service ended and he successfully returned to the surface with three other astronauts on SpaceX's manned Dragon spacecraft. Half a year of space station life, so Victor Glover had a say.
Recently, American Hollywood actor Tom Cruise is working with Musk's SpaceX company to make an upcoming movie "Luna Park", part of which will be filmed inside the International Space Station, and Tom Cruise may enter the International Space Station.
This is not the first time that a movie has been made on the International Space Station, in 2020, the Russian drama crew filmed a science fiction movie called "Challenge" on the International Space Station, and actress Yulia Peresilid entered the International Space Station in a red spacesuit, looking very feminine.
Back to the main topic, Tom Cruise before entering the International Space Station, with the American astronaut Victor Glover, Victor Glover will share some flight experience, and inform the need to comply and pay attention to things, unexpectedly, Victor Glover actually exposed the disgusting smell in the CABIN of the International Space Station.
Victor Glover said that the first time you arrive at the International Space Station, you will initially smell a very strong disgusting smell, especially the module where the weightlifting and strength training equipment is placed and the module where the bathroom is located, it smells very smelly, like the smell of the locker room, the overall smell of the International Space Station is comparable to the smell of the hospital, but people quickly get used to it and can no longer smell it, because the nose slowly adapts.
The International Space Station was exposed to a "disgusting" smell, and it was exposed that all the living equipment on the International Space Station has begun to age, including the defecation system, air purification system, and other life systems, so the extension of the service time of the International Space Station to 2030 is indeed a big challenge.
In the past year, the International Space Station has been exposed to malfunction several times, in March 2021, the Zvezda service module (Zvezda) bulkhead was found to have two small cracks, and in July 2021, part of the Russian Science (Nauka) that had just docked with the International Space Station lost control, and the engine erupted wildly, overturning the International Space Station.
In October 2021, the International Space Station was once again overturned by Russia's maneuvering operations, once again deviating from the normal orbit, the United States at that time accused Russia of improper maneuvering, putting the International Space Station in a dangerous state, saying 1,000 channels and 10,000, the main reason is that the cabins have grown up more than the design life when they are in service.
The International Space Station is very lucky, has encountered many failures, but the results are all thrilling, and now it is still running well in low Earth orbit, but it does not mean that it will be lucky to avoid failures again in the future, in 2021, there are pessimistic predictions from experts that with the aging of trusses and multiple modules, the International Space Station may disintegrate.
The International Space Station was exposed to a "disgusting" smell, but also let the American astronauts worry about physical health, there have been many toilet failures before, and there may be more disgusting equipment failures in the future, the International Space Station will run for another 8 years, and the future days are estimated to be more difficult. Interesting and informative scientific content, please pay attention to the only WeChat public account: Interesting Exploration