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International Space Station to crash into Earth's 'space graveyard' in 2031, NASA says
NASA is planning to crash International Space Station (ISS) in a remote ocean area within the next decade.The Huston-based space agency is considering bringing the spacecraft down into a so-called 'space graveyard' in 2031.The International Space Station was launched back in 1998 and has seen 244 astronauts and space tourists visit since it settled in Earth's orbit.However, the 24-year-old spacecraft is getting old and unsustainable to repair so a NASA report has declared that it will only be able to "operate it safely through 2030."US President Biden has committed to keeping it operational for the next eight years but after that, it will need to be brought down safely before it becomes dangerous.If it is left in low Earth orbit it could crash into satellites creating dangerous space junk, which experts are already wary of.But the plan is to slowly lower the space station's altitude from its current spot 408km above the ground until the Earth's atmosphere will pull it in closer and faster, before crashing into the sea in an area known as Point Nemo, which is Latin for "no one".The remote region is around 4,000 metres deep and the furthest point from any inhabited area of land, making it the ideal spot to crash defunct rockets and satellites.The site has seen hundreds of spacecraft being laid to rest thereby Nasa and other space agencies since it was first used in 1971.For more shocking stories from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.In the future, private firms such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin will do the work of the space station in the future.Director of Commercial Space, Phil McAlister said: "The private sector is technically and financially capable of
