NASA Commits To Staying Onboard The ISS To ‘Benefit Humanity’ Till 2030
NASA has just announced that the US will extend its operations aboard the International Space Station (ISS) till 2030.
“I’m pleased that the Biden-Harris administration has committed to continuing station operations through 2030,” said NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson.
“The International Space Station is a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration and for more than 20 years has returned enormous scientific, educational and technological developments to benefit humanity.”
While it was expected that the country would continue with its missions in space, Engadget noted that incidents such as Russian weapon test towards the end of 2021 had cast doubt as to if the US would still remain.
Thankfully, the White House eventually decided that NASA and its partners—the European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Roscosmos—will continue working together to run the ISS for the rest of the decade.
In the coming years, as per Space.com, the agency hopes to launch its Artemis program successfully, which would see the first woman and first person of color travel to the moon.
The extension will give it additional time to hand over its research and missions to private companies that could be slated to take over the ISS in due time, too.
