The truth of ISS (International space station)

 The truth of ISS (International space station)

Introduction.

What if there were a six-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a gym and a gorgeous view that cost   $150 billion? You probably won't find that on earth but it does exist a little farther away.   The International Space Station has more live able room than a six-bedroom house.   It also has a couple of toilets, a workout area, and a 360-degree view.   Humanity's only permanent outpost in space is the most expensive object ever built. NASA has called   it home for the last two decades but the managers are planning on moving out - marking a new era in space.

 

 Tonight, I am directing NASA to develop a permanently manned space station   and to do it within a decade. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan approved the construction of freedom   but because of budget constraints, it was never built, and eventually, the vision morphed into   the ISS - the combined effort of five different agencies representing 15 different nations.  

 

 In November 1998, the first component of the space station launched from Baikonur,  Kazakhstan on top of a Proton rocket - the Russian-built Zarya module wasn't alone for long.   Endeavor already traveling 575 mph. Two weeks later, the shuttle Endeavor carried the next   module, Unity, the first American element built by Boeing.

 

When Zarya and Unity joined together,   that was the beginning of an engineering marvel. Dozens of launches over many years followed,   building the station piece by piece by piece, fitting together tens of thousands of parts.  

 

The end result was a 109-meter-long structure the length of an American football field. Even though   it often seems the ISS is gliding at a slow pace, it's actually moving at a speed of 17,500 mph - so   fast that it can circle the planet every 90 minutes. As of the making of this video, 240   people have visited the large spacecraft, living and working on what's really a giant floating   laboratory, conducting research and science experiments that have led to many inventions.  

 

 NASA's scratch resistant helmets created scratch resistant lenses. The rubber molding   in those helmets is found in the soles of athletic shoes. The polymer fabric in spacesuits protects   firefighters. Technology used to track astronauts' eyes is essential for laser eye surgery.   NASA helped develop the first computer mouse and the list goes on. But the main reason the ISS   exists is to help humans learn about living and working in space in order to send us even further.

 

   In 2018, President Trump signed a directive to focus on returning astronauts to the moon.   It's been a while since we went there. The last time was in 1972. NASA created the Artemis program to send the first woman and next man to the lunar surface by 2024   using its Space Launch System which will be the foundation for the agency's exploration beyond   Earth's orbit. It's no coincidence Washington initially proposed ending NASA's funding for   the space station the same year it wants to go to the moon - although funding can now be extended   for a few more years. NASA spends between $3 to $4 billion to maintain and operate the ISS   every year - money that could be used to support other projects.

 

Its annual budget is about 1$9   billion, although the Trump administration has been increasing funding the last few years,   providing nearly $23 billion in 2020. Even before President Trump came into office, the   Obama administration tried to turn more of NASA's responsibilities over to the private sector. 

 

  And lift off. The final lift off of Atlantis. When the agency retired its Shuttle program in 2011.   it decided not to build its own infrastructure to get to the ISS but rather have its astronauts   hitch a ride with commercial companies. NASA gave billion-dollar contracts to Boeing and SpaceX   through its Commercial Crew Programs so they could build their own spacecraft. Go NASA, go SpaceX,   god speed Bob and Doug.

 

Elon Musk's company won the race against Boeing when it sent   two astronauts to the ISS aboard Crew Dragon in May 2020 which I talked about in another video.   Boeing should have flown astronauts by now as well but an un crewed test flight in December 2019   didn't go as expected when the Star liner spacecraft went into the wrong orbit,   so a crewed mission will have to wait until 2021. Opening up the ISS to private companies is also   changing the way it looks. NASA gave the Texas start up Axiom a $140 million-dollar contract to   build a segment that can be attached to the space station in 2024 and used for commercial business   activities.

 

 When the ISS eventually retires, that component will detach and operate freely   as a private space station. This is what one of the main living areas looks like.   Axiom is also teaming up with SpaceX to fly three people to the space station in 2021. The price   per seat is $55 million and one is already taken. Hollywood is showing interest as well.

 

Tom Cruise   could board Crew Dragon to film a movie at the ISS. And Russia state corporation Roscosmos is set   to get back into the space tourism industry with flights to the ISS planned in the coming years.   But private trips are out of reach for most people nor is this the main objective of   these companies. It's a way of testing out technology in the pursuit of greater goals.   SpaceX plans to circle the moon on a trip financed by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who will   also take a group of artists with them in 2023. They'll be traveling on Star ship, a fully reusable   system currently in development.

 

 Star ship will eventually be modified so that it can land on the   moon. SpaceX is one of three companies selected by NASA to design a lunar landing system competing   against Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and the relative newcomer Dynetics. This is the agency's first step   toward creating a long-term presence on the moon with the aim of leading to an even greater goal:   Mars. NASA hopes to send humans to the red planet in the 2030s but everything it wants to be able to   do here it must first do here.

 

As the agency keeps its eyes on the moon and off the ISS,   its partners appear to be doing the same. The European Space Agency is working ever more   closely with China. In 2022, China aims to build its own space station and fly European astronauts.   U.S. Congress banned Beijing from the ISS due to security concerns. And America's partner   Japan is teaming up with India on a mission to the moon in order to counter the rise of China. 

 

  While everyone's attention is turned elsewhere, the ISS is not getting any younger. Wear and tear   on the 20-year-old structure means the end of its life will be some time in the next decade.   Going to the graveyard involves a controlled destructive re entry into Earth's atmosphere just   like this animation of the Russian space station Mir deorbiting in 2001. The ISS will burn up,   break up, and vaporize into fragments, although some parts would survive and fall into a stretch   of empty ocean in the South Pacific.

 

The total weight of the debris is expected to be between   53,500 to 173,000 pounds or as many as 32 Model X's. Even when the ISS is no longer with us, it   will be remembered not only as the most expensive man-made object ever built, not only as a triumph   of international cooperation but as a building block toward deeper missions in space. Without the   International Space Station, a new era of space travel would not be possible Hey guys, I'm Cindy   Pom, thanks so much for watching. So

 

what do you think about the ISS being opened up to commercial activity?

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