Final ISS Photo Taken by Discovery

kennyc · 03-09-2011, 05:18 PM

Taken by the Discovery Crew after leaving the ISS to return to Earth.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

vivaldirules · 03-09-2011, 06:03 PM

Very cool. So two more shuttle missions and then The U.S. can no longer reach the ISS without help, correct? And how many more years is the ISS expected to be functional and in use?

kennyc · 03-09-2011, 06:32 PM

I just heard there are two more after that any future U.S. manned missions will be by hitchhiking.

There are of course some smaller rockets and military rockets etc.

HarryT · 03-10-2011, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Very cool. So two more shuttle missions and then The U.S. can no longer reach the ISS without help, correct? And how many more years is the ISS expected to be functional and in use?

That's why the "I" stands for "International". It was never intended to be a US-only project. The Russians have always been better at doing low-cost and reliable rockets.

GeoffC · 03-10-2011, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's why the "I" stands for "International". It was never intended to be a US-only project. The Russians have always been better at doing low-cost and reliable rockets.

vivaldirules · 03-10-2011, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's why the "I" stands for "International". It was never intended to be a US-only project. The Russians have always been better at doing low-cost and reliable rockets.

Yes, I have always understood all that. I think the U.S. is pretty well irrelevant at this point at least for launching anything. But what's the answer to my question? The ISS has been many years in a ongoing development and I'm curious about its expected lifetime.

GeoffC · 03-10-2011, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Yes, I have always understood all that. I think the U.S. is pretty well irrelevant at this point at least for launching anything. But what's the answer to my question? The ISS has been many years in a ongoing development and I'm curious about its expected lifetime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna..._Space_Station

Quote:

The station is expected to remain in operation until at least 2015, and likely 2020.

kennyc · 03-10-2011, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna..._Space_Station

And that's going to be a SPECTACULAR re-entry when it happens.

vivaldirules · 03-10-2011, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna..._Space_Station

Ouch. That's not very long for something that's still being constructed after a dozen years or more although I would gladly have seen the effort spent on more unmanned exploration in the first place. But if you're going to commit to something, why not commit to it?

orlok · 03-10-2011, 02:05 PM

Beautiful picture

. Like something out of a James Bond movie.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 03-10-2011, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Ouch. That's not very long for something that's still being constructed after a dozen years or more although I would gladly have seen the effort spent on more unmanned exploration in the first place. But if you're going to commit to something, why not commit to it?

I always thought that life-span for such a sizable project was too short, myself. Maybe they can repurpose it instead of simply de-orbiting it. Or maybe they can talk some hotel chain into buying it... I'll bet Virgin would pay for it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by orlok

Beautiful picture

. Like something out of a James Bond movie.

Heh. I don't see Richard Kiel floating around anywhere.

orlok · 03-10-2011, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Heh. I don't see Richard Kiel floating around anywhere.

Can't you see the teeth marks on the left?

03-09-2011, 05:18 PM	#1
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Final ISS Photo Taken by Discovery Taken by the Discovery Crew after leaving the ISS to return to Earth. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

03-09-2011, 06:32 PM	#3
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,897 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I just heard there are two more after that any future U.S. manned missions will be by hitchhiking. There are of course some smaller rockets and military rockets etc. Last edited by kennyc; 03-09-2011 at 07:47 PM.

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vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 10,059 Karma: 13675475 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	Very cool. So two more shuttle missions and then The U.S. can no longer reach the ISS without help, correct? And how many more years is the ISS expected to be functional and in use?

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