International Space Station's life to be extended by four years to 2024 - Polidicks

[img]http://imgkk.com/i/ho1s.jpg[/img] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25660857[/url] [quote]Nasa has won White House backing to extend the life of the International Space Station for a further four years, until 2024. Construction of the ISS began in 1998 and is a joint venture between the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, and states in the European Space Agency (Esa). These partners will have to support any extension for it to be implemented. Their current commitments run to 2020, but many engineers believe the station could work safely until at least 2028. ... Certainly, Germany, Europe's biggest contributor to the ISS project is keen to see the $100bn orbiting platform operate for many years into the future. Jan Woerner, the chairman of the German space agency (DLR), said: "Germany is eager to use the ISS until 2020 and beyond. Full stop. This is the German position and we hope the other [European] member states will make the commitment and give the money for that."[/quote]

Have we started to work on designing a replacement?

aka science budget is nonexistant and won't pay for another

[QUOTE=Blanketspace;43466359]Have we started to work on designing a replacement?[/QUOTE] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_Gateway_Platform[/url] Getting funding is a different story.

After ISS, we should probably follow on with the first pods and domes of Moonbase Alpha.

[QUOTE=ironman17;43466489]After ISS, we should probably follow on with the first pods and domes of Moonbase Alpha.[/QUOTE] Then we can finally play Football on the moon. [sp]Aieou~[/sp]

[QUOTE=Pvt. Martin;43466566]Then we can finally play Football on the moon. [sp]Aieou~[/sp][/QUOTE] [video][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQByFjYczfE[/media][/video]

You know, when I first saw ironman17's post I was going to post something like "after you mentioned moonbase alpha it's only a matter of time before someone posts that song there, you know which one" but then i got this feeling like I should refresh this page to check if perhabs someone actually posted "that song" it was a clever decision

well when NASA gets around to adding a methane conversion to the station's life support cycle, they can refuel it just by adding mono propellent and water every now and then instead of needing separate o2 top offs periodically making resupplying it much easier by taking the carbon from the CO2 and the Hydrogen gained from electrolysis they can combine them to make o2 and CH4, storing the CH4 for ship fuel and using the o2 for more life support i can't wait to see the day when we have multiple stations in space though, but i don't like the idea that everybody seems to want to go off on their own again. the ROS is supposed to be removed in 2018 by russia and used as the base for their next station.

Out of interest. Are there really any more researches we can conduct on a space station to make it "cost efficient"? Aren't the most researches we do on space stations like biological experiments?

[QUOTE=booster;43467311]Out of interest. Are there really any more researches we can conduct on a space station to make it "cost efficient"? Aren't the most researches we do on space stations like biological experiments?[/QUOTE] Most research can be done on Earth because most researchers have pretty much gotten used to it and evolved their tools accordingly (And below the microscale gravity essentially doesn't matter). I could see a future for microgravity manufacturing, but it's not cost effective without cheap access to and from LEO, and huge facilities (Both of which require Big Dumb Boosters or other very high tonnage rockets that we don't have). And it would be a very brief future, since most manufacturing will move on to atomically-precise manufacturing in ~half a century.

that is spacetastic

[QUOTE=Durrsly;43466578][video][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQByFjYczfE[/media][/video][/QUOTE] I'm dying.

[QUOTE=Durrsly;43466578][video][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQByFjYczfE[/media][/video][/QUOTE] This is the best use of advanced text to speech tools I've ever heard

[QUOTE=FinalHunter;43467410]It's really sad when the Cold War is the best thing to ever contribute to space exploration. We need an Astronomer or some shit to be elected President because some people just seem incapable of grasping that we can't stay on this planet forever. [editline]8 January 2014[/editline] I mean seriously we only have three working satellites around Mars and they're all at least 8 years old. Hubble is old as shit. The ISS is old as shit. NASA just gets no love.[/QUOTE] It's extremely expensive. And well, you won't really make much of a profit. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for some sweet space projects getting started. Like a mission to research the oceans on the moon Europa. But I don't see them happening any time soon, simply because it's so expensive. No astronomer president can solve that problem.

[QUOTE=booster;43467605]It's extremely expensive. And well, you won't really make much of a profit. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for some sweet space projects getting started. Like a mission to research the oceans on the moon Europa. But I don't see them happening any time soon, simply because it's so expensive. No astronomer president can solve that problem.[/QUOTE] You won't get that so long as the ESA and NASA dictate who is allowed to put what into space. You can make something amazing and it's their yes/no that makes or breaks you. Defy them and they'll smudge your operation out of existance permanently.

All money to space is a good thing, but i think that if space missions, right now are underfunded, i don't really think it would be a bad thing, i think that in the next 50 years there will be some amazing tech coming out that will make it worthwhile explore space and mine asteroids and all that stuff because right now there's not enough funding and there's not enough technology to surf the stars, lets face it guys, if we leave earth it's going to be because of profit and only profit

[QUOTE=Pvt. Martin;43466566]Then we can finally play Football on the moon. [sp]Aieou~[/sp][/QUOTE] If you kick the ball hard enough, it just sorta goes away into the inky blackness of space. :v:

[QUOTE=FinalHunter;43467410]It's really sad when the Cold War is the best thing to ever contribute to space exploration. We need an Astronomer or some shit to be elected President because some people just seem incapable of grasping that we can't stay on this planet forever. [editline]8 January 2014[/editline] I mean seriously we only have three working satellites around Mars and they're all at least 8 years old. Hubble is old as shit. The ISS is old as shit. NASA just gets no love.[/QUOTE] No sane astronomer would put up with all the bullshit that comes with politics.

[QUOTE=Durrsly;43466578][video][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQByFjYczfE[/media][/video][/QUOTE] It's finally happened. Humanity has finally peaked. Everything from this point on is downhill. I vote for species wide suicide. Let's go out at the top, people!

Good. That thing deserves to stay in service. It's modular enough to upgrade as time goes by anyway.

Four more years!