 NASA plans to deorbit the International Space Station in 2016– which is a polite way of saying they’re going to let all 100 billion dollars of it burn up in the atmosphere and crash into the ocean.
This “decision” is largely a result of deep funding cuts, and has met with criticism from scientists and politicians alike. However, according to Universe Today, the hype is unfounded- the claim more a plea for funding than a serious plan. NASA’s funding fluctuates wildly at the whim of government, and it is impossible to predict where it will be in 7 years. Besides, NASA space station program manager Suffredini, who sparked all this in the first place, also says: “My opinion is it would be a travesty to de-orbit this thing.” Sure, the ISS isn’t the most popular object in the sky these days (check out the eclipse!), but surely we don’t need to incinerate it!
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