As the International Space Station's (ISS) lifespan is finite, NASA is investing heavily in potential successors, with Orbital Reef among promising options. NASA granted Blue Origin $172 million to develop Orbital Reef, intended to accommodate both astronauts and tourists, ensuring it can sustain human life.
Orbital Reef Achieves Key Milestones for Sustainable Space Livin
On Wednesday, March 20, NASA announced significant progress for Orbital Reef, including the successful completion of four key technological milestones, such as the development of a urine recycling system.
Angela Hart, manager of NASA's Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program, emphasized the critical role of these advancements in ensuring the space station's capability to sustain human life. Testing focused on Orbital Reef's regenerative system, essential for providing occupants with clean air and water.
NASA's evaluations involved various aspects of Orbital Reef's system, including its ability to purify air, recycle urine, and maintain water storage. Similar to the ISS, Orbital Reef's system converts urine into drinkable water, a crucial process for conserving water resources during space missions.
Former ISS Commander Chris Hadfield highlighted the purity of the recycled water, emphasizing its safety for consumption compared to terrestrial sources.
For over 15 years, astronauts aboard the ISS have relied on recycled urine for drinking water, significantly reducing the need for water resupply missions and resulting in cost savings. This underscores the efficiency and sustainability of urine recycling systems in space habitats like Orbital Reef, which are essential for facilitating long-term human presence in space.
NASA's Transition to Private Space Stations and Beyond
The ISS is showing signs of aging, with cracks appearing on a Russian module and air leaks in another section. Recent years have seen toilet malfunctions, temperature fluctuations, and oxygen system breakdowns. Despite this, the Biden administration intends to keep the ISS operational until at least 2030.
NASA plans to transition to privately owned space stations by then, with the decommissioned ISS expected to burn up upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
NASA awarded Blue Origin and Sierra Space $172 million to develop commercialized American-led space stations in low-Earth orbit, aiming to achieve this transition. These replacements will serve as habitats and laboratories for NASA astronauts and will also be open to space tourists. Blue Origin envisions spacious modules with large windows for Earth observation and weightlessness experiences.
Handing over the responsibility of space station development to commercial entities allows NASA to redirect its funding towards other priorities. Maintaining the ISS program costs NASA approximately $3 billion annually. NASA aims to foster competition, reduce costs, and meet demand by partnering with the private sector for space station development.
With the ISS retired, NASA can focus on its Artemis missions, which aim to establish a permanent human presence on the moon. This includes building a space station in lunar orbit and establishing a lunar surface base.
The projected cost of Artemis missions is estimated at $93 billion by 2025, excluding launch expenses, which are expected to be around $4.2 billion per mission for the initial four Artemis missions. Ultimately, NASA hopes to allocate its budget towards crewed missions to Mars.
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