NASA will cut ISS funding in favor of Mars

The management of the US aerospace agency NASA announced the need to reduce the financing of the International Space Station by 2024 and redirect these funds to the development of programs to prepare a man for Mars.

“The ISS for NASA is a very serious matter. We are going to continue funding its work until 2024, after which we will start redirecting these funds for the preparation of a manned flight to Mars, “commented the senior research officer of the agency Ellen Stofen.

The termination of US funding for the station may mean its end, so the scenarios for its write-off are being worked out now. So, according to one of the options, the ISS can be buried in the so-called cemetery of space ships – remote waters of the Pacific Ocean. A lot of submerged spacecraft, rocket stages and other debris, including those once owned by the Russian Mir station and not burnt in the atmosphere, are resting on this day.

“The ISS is huge. The size of the football field, so the most likely scenario will be its immersion in the waters of the Pacific, “says Stofen.

There is one more option. After the termination of the state financing, the ISS can be given up (sold) to a private company (or several companies at once) that will use it for commercial flights.

In addition, it should be remembered that the ISS belongs to several countries that created it, so it is possible that only the US can refuse to use it and the station will continue its independent work without the modules of the US aerospace agency.

The International Space Station began to be operated from November 20, 1998. It is a multi-purpose research space complex. 14 countries participate in the ISS project: Russia, USA, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Japan and Canada.

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