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NASA's International Space Station team wants to stay for at least 15 years.
NASA officials spoke about the extension of the International Space Station program at a virtual meeting on Tuesday. The meeting was held by the Human Exploration and Operations Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, a group of independent experts who monitor NASA's activity relating to human spaceflight.
Kathy Lueders, NASA's associate administrator for space operations said that the announcement of the station extension gave them a Christmas present.
There is a photo tour of the International Space Station.
Mark Vande Hei is a NASA Astronaut. The image is from NASA.
"This is when I want the stars to explode, because the special effects that iPhones will apply to a text that reads "Happy New Year" is what I want," he said. We have so many things we want to do on the space station that we're very happy to have this extension through 2030.
NASA hopes to get out of the business of operating space stations in low Earth orbit by sending its research and personnel to commercially operated stations.
The agency and businesses are not ready for that. The commercial sector isn't close to having independent stations in space yet, and NASA still has high demands for low Earth orbit, particularly to test technology it hopes to bring to more difficult destinations like the moon and Mars. The International Space Station's tenure will be extended to 2030, giving both sides of the U.S. equation more time to prepare.
NASA officials have expressed their support for the extension, but there are a few potential challenges. The fate of the International Space Station can't be decided by the U.S. alone. Russia, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency must evaluate their priorities for themselves.
"Now each of our partners is working with their own government to officially commit to also extending through 2030, so everybody's on their own timeline and their own budget cycles," said NASA's director of the International Space Station during the meeting.
Some components of the space station have been in the air for two decades. NASA and its Russian counterpart have been monitoring an air leak in the Zvezda service module for the past year.
Gatens said that the teams have been working to identify other areas of interest after the crew permanently sealed one crack in that module. There's no immediate danger to the vehicle or the crew, we have enough gas onboard, and worst-case scenario, we can permanently close off this module.
Orbital debris, or "space junk," is an issue that will threaten the space station over its lifetime. Gatens mentioned the debris created by the Russian anti-satellite test, which forced seven astronauts into their capsule as a precautionary measure.
The environment that the space station is flying in will be affected by this debris for a long time. Gatens said. She said that the anti-satellite test has increased background debris by two times.
Gatens said that the previous risk of penetrating collision was between 1 in 50,000 and 1 in 33,000. She noted that the space station makes about 60,000 trips each year.
NASA is confident that it can continue to operate the station despite the increase in space debris. Gatens said they know how to deal with it.
Gatens said that the space station can last through the new extension. Gatens said that they have done structural analysis and have no issues through at least 2030. The next chunk of a detailed analysis is due to be completed by the agency soon, she said.
The announcement of the extension comes at a time when the limits on what can be done in the space station are more limited than in the past. Gatens said that the up-mass has been a constraint. "I think some of this will work out, but we're keeping a close eye and this is a good problem."
Some of the work that will be done on the space station this year was highlighted by Gatens and Lueders. Mark Vande Hei will set a new record for the longest stay in space for the U.S.
"We're going to squeeze every ounce of value out of the International Space Station," he said.
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