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Author
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Topic: NASA: No plan to return ISS parts for display
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 47868
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-18-2022 12:00 AM
   
collectSPACE NASA: No current plan for return of space station parts for museumsA recently-released plan for how NASA will dispose of the International Space Station makes no mention of preserving historically-significant components from the orbiting complex. But it is not just an omission from a report: the space agency says it has no current plans to return potential artifacts to Earth. The International Space Station (ISS) Transition Report, which NASA published on its website in January, outlines the budget and logistics needed to safely de-orbit the football-field-wide space station by directing it into a controlled but destructive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere over an uninhabited area of the South Pacific Ocean.  |
thisismills
Member Posts: 472
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 02-18-2022 06:42 AM
Thinking about the question "What would you bring back to Earth?" my first thoughts of what I would want to see in person are (whether plausible or not): - Cupola.
- Something from Unity and Zarya modules, hatch with Speed Limit signs.
- Food table from Russian Zvezda service module.
- EVA suits.
- Orbital Outhouse.
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GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2786
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-18-2022 10:03 AM
While NASA may not fund any returns, how about approval for a private return via SpaceX crew Dragon and cargo Dragon docking at the same time. This would not use NASA astronauts or equipment other than the ISS systems that, at that point, are not needed much longer anyway. While the interesting "outside" pieces may not be available for return, I am sure there are a number of "inside" items that could be interesting for display salvage. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 47868
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-18-2022 10:39 AM
Unless it is like the F-1 engine recovery by Bezos Expeditions, where there is no expectation of owning the items returned, it might be tough to get a private entity to invest the millions needed for such a mission. Still, it would be great if such a flight could be undertaken.That said, NASA has a responsibility to protect its historical assets and therefore it is not unreasonable to expect the agency to budget for a dedicated down mass flight to return items for the Smithsonian and other museums. Treating the preservation of artifacts as an optional activity, as NASA is currently saying it will, runs against its own policies and the policies of the federal government. As for the types of items to be returned, I can think of a number of items that would be compact enough (I believe) and historically-significant to merit their return on a Cargo Dragon. For example: - End effector of the Canadarm2
- Robotics workstation from either Destiny or the Cupola
- Crew quarters assembly
- Galley table (as noted above)
- Microgravity glovebox (partially disassembled)
- Veggie plant growth chamber
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Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1703
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 02-19-2022 11:32 AM
quote:
Originally posted by thisismills:
...hatch with Speed Limit signs.
Hatches can not be returned. They are larger than the hatch openings. As for the cupola, there is nothing for it to return in. Everything on the interior has to be able to pass through a NDS hatch/opening 800 millimeters /31 in. to get off the ISS. |
music_space
Member Posts: 1188
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 02-19-2022 12:12 PM
Some of the artifacts readily associated with the ISS are also among the easiest to return to Earth. I'm thinking of decals and pictures, those of Gagarin and Tsiolkovski, the black-and-yellow speed limit decal (if it comes off the wall), and many others. Those have been ubiquous in videos from the ISS. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 47868
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-19-2022 01:00 PM
Unfortunately, the speed limit signs met their end in 2015. They had become tattered and dirty and were discarded. A replacement set was planned but never materialized. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4439
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-19-2022 05:20 PM
Whatever happened to Scott Kelly’s gorilla suit? |
MB
Member Posts: 176
From: Olmsted Falls, Ohio U.S.A.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 02-19-2022 07:08 PM
While you couldn't bring the entire ISS cupola back to Earth, there is still the possibility of bringing one of the flight windows home. Each cupola window is made up of four panes, the inner pane being a scratch pane. The entire window or the individual scratch and debris panes can be replaced. To replace an entire window, an astronaut would first fit an external pressure cover over the window during a spacewalk. Then the crew would replace the entire window from the interior. While i don't think that you could bring the central no. 7 window home (its 80 cm in diameter), one of windows no. 1 to 6 is a possibility. A more likely and safer option would be to bring home one of the inner scratch panes. ISS crews have replaced the scratch panes before, so they could replace one and have it brought down on a SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 47868
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-19-2022 09:57 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
Whatever happened to Scott Kelly’s gorilla suit?
Per a recent interview in People magazine: As for what happened to the gorilla suit? That went out with the trash.Says Scott: "I didn't want to be responsible for what anyone else would do with a gorilla suit in space." |
SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 1156
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 02-20-2022 06:31 PM
One would assume that any item in another countries' modules would be owned by those countries. As such, removal would only be okay if it is acceptable to that foreign country. Given current geopolitical realities I can't imagine that anything Russian would be given to the USA, and, assuming the Russians were willing to sell the items, I can't imagine the US Government buying them. |
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