Why NASA Is Paying to Destroy the ISS

The biggest thing ever built in space is going to end in the ocean, and NASA is paying SpaceX to make sure of it. After 25 years with people aboard, the International Space Station is ageing and leaking. It cannot be flown home in pieces, left to fall wherever drag takes it, pushed higher into the junk, or blown up. So a modified Dragon, built under a contract worth up to $843 million, will drive it steeply into the remote South Pacific near Point Nemo, where most of it burns up and the rest sinks. Sources: NASA, “International Space Station Deorbit Analysis Summary” (2024) https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/iss-deorbit-analysis-summary.pdf ; SpacePolicyOnline, “NASA Picks SpaceX to Build ISS Deorbit Vehicle” https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/nasa-picks-spacex-to-build-iss-deorbit-vehicle/ ; Guinness World Records, “First fine for littering from space” https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/114725-first-fine-for-littering-from-space. #ISS #NASA #SpaceX #Space