The International Space Station (ISS) will reach the end of its operational life at the end of this decade. So NASA plans to destroy it by gradually lowering its orbit so that it enters the denser layers of the atmosphere and burns up, with the tails falling into the ocean. This should happen by about 2030. The space agency assures that the risks to the environment will be minimal. However, some experts have their doubts.
Risks to ozone layer
According to Space.com, destroying a massive object like the ISS, which weighs about 450 tons, could release harmful chemicals that would harm the ozone layer. Leonard Schulz, a researcher at the Technical University of Braunschweig, notes that the ISS reentry will increase the pollution problem caused by space objects.
“Given the mass of the station, this could result in a significant impact on the atmosphere, and so far we are only beginning to realize the scale of this phenomenon,” Schulz said.
Studies have already shown that burning satellites, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, are already causing aluminum oxides to be released into the upper atmosphere. These pollutants can remain in the stratosphere for up to 30 years, damaging the ozone layer. According to a study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the 550-kilogram satellite generates about 30 kilograms of aluminum oxide nanoparticles.
Plan to destroy the ISS
To lower the ISS from orbit, NASA engages SpaceX, which is developing a special Dragon cargo spacecraft. NASA allocated $843 million dollars for this to Elon Musk’s company, which won the bid. This task requires careful monitoring to guide the station to the farthest point in the Pacific Ocean, which is called “Point Nemo,” located as far away as possible from any coastline inhabited by humans.
Physicist Luciano Anselmo of the Space Flight Dynamics Laboratory believes the impact on the ocean will be minimal. He compares this to the mass of sunken ships, which far exceeds space waste. However, the impact on the upper atmosphere remains a significant environmental problem, the consequences of which have yet to be assessed.
Global perspectives
The increasing number of satellite launches and object returns from space is increasing atmospheric pollution. The destruction of the ISS will be the largest such experiment in history, the results of which could change the way humanity approaches the disposal of space objects.
Earlier we reported on how SpaceX Cargo Dragon with reinforced engines managed to destroy the ISS.
