Nasa Says ISS Coming Down in 2016

[shadowryche]

Taco Bell gonna put another target out in the ocean, and give us all a free taco if NASA can hit it?

 

[the last resort]

i thought we were using OUR money, OUR resources, and OUR time to launch JAPANESE things up to this thing right now. So I hope that the EU and Japan and other countries get involved and say no.

 

[fonzy]

To bad they couldn't use the gravity of the earth to slingshot it to mars orbit.

 

[Greg_77]

[citation][nom]fonzy[/nom]To bad they couldn't use the gravity of the earth to slingshot it to mars orbit.[/citation]
Yea, but it is supposed to be manned by people... I wouldn't want to be slingshot to Mars! 😉

 

[frozenlead]

I didn't know they had space stations in the year 201.

 

[kingssman]

hmm, would be a huge waste to see it fall like a fireball. The problem with the ISS is that there's little to no use for it. All experiments are made via shuttle and everything else is unmanned rockets. Unless mankind is serious about reaching the moon / mars the ISS would serve as a great waypoint. If it was the American Space Station, it would serve as a great launchpad for anti ballistic missile and spy platform.

 

[mapesdhs]

There are plenty of uses for the station, but the funds have never been
made available to maintain a full crew, without which proper research
cannot be carried out since what crew there are spend almost all their
time on station maintenance.

This is the dumbest idea I've heard of from NASA in years, 2nd only to
going back to the moon instead of heading for Mars, or better still Europa
where there's a much better chance of finding life under the surface ice
next to sea floor volcanic vents.

Humans are so narrow minded. What a shame.

Ian.

 

[michaelahess]

Greg_77, every space flight beyond our orbit needs to be slingshot, not exactly a new thing.

 

[opmopadop]

We have a perfectly good moon to land the damn thing on.

 

[Greg_77]

[citation][nom]michaelahess[/nom]Greg_77, every space flight beyond our orbit needs to be slingshot, not exactly a new thing.[/citation]
I was more or less joking. Besides, do you really want to be slingshot around Mars in the ISS, seriously? Something like the ISS was not meant for that sort of treatment. It could break apart.

 

[okibrian]

If you know you are going to drop it in 2016 (what a waste) then why put any more money into it for the next 6 years or so? Why send up more parts and people to work on it until then? I'm sure rocket fuel cost more than $2.42 a gallon. You either keep it or you don't, but don't piss away my money for 7 years only to drop it all into the ocean.

 

[matt87_50]

umm, isn't it the Iss, the INTERNATIONAL space station?? its ok NASA, you go ahead and do this tho, the rest of the world isn't using it... thanks for deciding for us.

 

[paranoidmage]

They are just making a statement. They need more money and this is their way of telling the government that if they don't get enough to support it, it can't survive. You really can't blame NASA for this. The money has to come from the government.

 

[wisdom_learner]

[citation][nom]zachary k[/nom]wtf? i though the iss was going to be built up until it becomes the death star? we spend billions on the war, trillions to rebuild the economy, and millions to bail out companies that just use the money to have gold toilets and we don't have enough to spend on space? i guess we are doomed to stay on earth forever until we get pwned in the face by one of the many things discovery channel keeps on talking about.[/citation]

I could not agree more with you. The "leaders" of the world would rather devote their time to fighting stupid "holy" wars and fighting for oil in the Middle East than spend it on space.

It is really sad.

 

[Ramar]

[citation][nom]paranoidmage[/nom]They are just making a statement. They need more money and this is their way of telling the government that if they don't get enough to support it, it can't survive. You really can't blame NASA for this. The money has to come from the government.[/citation]

Thank you.

NASA is an amazing group of people that continue to give more and more with less money every year. They really are the cream of the scientific crop and just about every piece of tech [or sometimes even the chemicals, foods, and clothing] you use is only possible through their efforts.

 

[daimerous]

NASA sucks. They waste hundreds of billions of dollars each year. And what gets me is that NASA is a privately owned. It is not part of our government, and yet tax dollars are spent to support it. I for one do not support something like that when voters don't have any say on how the money is spent. NASA can get bent for all I care. Yah, they progress technology, but if they sold it on their own, then they would have their own money to use, not tax payers.

 

[Ramar]

[citation][nom]daimerous[/nom]NASA sucks. They waste hundreds of billions of dollars each year. And what gets me is that NASA is a privately owned. It is not part of our government, and yet tax dollars are spent to support it. I for one do not support something like that when voters don't have any say on how the money is spent. NASA can get bent for all I care. Yah, they progress technology, but if they sold it on their own, then they would have their own money to use, not tax payers.[/citation]

Their budget for fiscal 2009 is a measly 30 billion. I'd be willing to bet that's less than any other government funded project.

 

[kingssman]

Make the ISS into a 2nd hubble. The platform is huge, there's plenty of room for it to be useful. I understand that it's a budget pain to keep the thing running but this is NASA, the folks who put men on the moon and WallE on mars. Why would such a project go to waste.

Next project they should do should involve rotational artificial gravity.

 

[lashton]

pitty NASA dont have a say in when the ISS comes down, its an international consortium not a YANK consortium

 

[Firehead2k]

The