NASA selects SpaceX to build deorbit vehicle for International Space Station

[Admin]

NASA has selected SpaceX to develop a vehicle that will bring the International Space Station to a fiery end when the time comes.

NASA selects SpaceX to build deorbit vehicle for International Space Station : Read more

 

[Philly]

Why do I have a feeling another company is going to be launching a new lawsuit soon about this decision. Maybe they will make it to orbit by 2030?

 

[frankjbrown]

NASA has selected SpaceX to develop a vehicle that will bring the International Space Station to a fiery end when the time comes.

NASA selects SpaceX to build deorbit vehicle for International Space Station : Read more

So just a question...since the most expensive part of a space mission is lofting the equipment into orbit, why not park the ISS in a lunar orbit and salvage parts for a future lunar base? Or since spacex is the contractor of choice, perhaps their vehicle could be capable of performing a soft landing on the lunar surface of the entire ISS?

 

[billslugg]

The delta V to put something in LEO is 9256 m/s.
The delta V to get to lunar orbit from LEO is 3940 m/s.

It would take 40% of what we've already spent on delta V, and for essentially nothing.
Little of it is reusable, most of it is past its service life, no one wants the liability.
No one wants to pay for something on speculation it might be useful some day.
It's not worth it, especially since the cost of delta V is shrinking so fast.

 

[frankjbrown]

The delta V to put something in LEO is 9256 m/s.
The delta V to get to lunar orbit from LEO is 3940 m/s.

It would take 40% of what we've already spent on delta V, and for essentially nothing.
Little of it is reusable, most of it is past its service life, no one wants the liability.
No one wants to pay for something on speculation it might be useful some day.
It's not worth it, especially since the cost of delta V is shrinking so fast.

While I understand this, if we are going to spend the money to build a "space tug" to de-oribit the station, it seems that the same vehicle could just as easily send the ISS to the moon. But I do get the obsolescence / liability thing. On the other hand, there are no supplies or spare parts on the moon. Think about the clever hack of the Apollo 13 Carbon Dioxide Scrubber, that facilitated the rescue of the crew. It would have been a different story if there were no resources to draw from.

 

[billslugg]

In order to deorbit something from LEO, you only need to boost it about 20 m/s. The space tug would be designed to handle that. In order to put ISS into orbit around the Moon, a tug would need to accelerate ISS by 3940 m/s. Such a tug would be about 200 times bigger than what is being planned.