The ISS or International Space Station is the massive spacestation that revolves around our planet. It serves as a home for astronauts and cosmonauts that are out in the space for various studies. However, NASA announced its plan to get out of the ISS project.
During a NASA advisory panel, Mr. Gerstenmaier announced the organization's intention to leave the ISS as soon as possible because it now wants to concentrate on the explorations happening in the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. He also stated that NASA will no longer support the ISS after 2028 comes, which is 2 years before the organization's plans of a manned exploration of Mars in the year 2030.
NASA's current budget sits at around $3 million, and it's expected to increase a million more by 2020. But not even that amount of money will be enough to provide for the two projects that they have. A few weeks ago, it was confirmed that after 2020, the United States will no longer support the ISS, meaning whatever budget NASA gets is all it has.
Just over the weekend, NASA has conducted its first supply refill launch in months. The organization even hired a private space travel form to transport a 7,000 pound cargo and Christmas presents for the astronauts that inhabit the structure. But due to the water, it is postponed for a later date.
NASA came up with the decision to drop the ISS project after a series of various government budget cuts and decreasing costs for private sectors ensued. Now, most of the logistics and space exploration projects are done by private space companies.
Because of the probability that private groups won't be eager to build an ISS 2.0, it is now encouraging companies to take advantage of the microgravity research. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden also expressed a plea for the government to give tax incentives to the companies that are still testing in zero-g to help bolster the research.
