After a planned fall to Earth in January 2031, the International Space Station will eventually come to rest beneath the waters of Point Nemo, an underwater cemetery 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) north of Antarctica, where it will be preserved.
The space station will meet the remains of Russia’s Mir and NASA’s Skylab in the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area, which is residence to more than 263 pieces of purposely sunk space trash. The area is home to more than 263 pieces of intentionally sunk space junk. Since its launch in November 2000, the International Space Station has served as an orbital lab 227 nautical miles above our globe, as well as a residence for astronauts and cosmonauts who rotate on a continual basis. It has been the location of several firsts, including the successful sequencing of DNA and the consumption of foods produced in space by astronauts.
Before any of the space station’s modules were ever launched, it was already planned what would happen to it at the end of its mission. However, whenever the space station deorbits, it will mark the ending of an era in space exploration. And via the use of space archaeology, a portion of its heritage will be preserved.
Preserving its legacy
NASA has released a revised plan of action for the space station, which presently does not involve recovering any artifacts to use for study or museums. As a result, the investigations that a group of scientists wants to undertake on the floating lab have taken on even more relevance.
More than that, knowing how humans have interacted with and utilized their environment and equipment on the International Space Station will be useful in the construction of future ships and habitats for explorations of the moon and Mars.
ISS is a critical location for the advancement of civilization in space. Researchers would go to great lengths to protect this location if it were on Earth. But since that isn’t technically possible, archaeologists do the next best thing, which is to record all they can about a site before it is inundated and to conserve that information and any artifacts.
Tiesha loves to share her passion for everything that’s beautiful in this world. Apart from writing on her beauty blog and running her own beauty channel on Youtube, she also enjoys traveling and photography. Tiesha covers various stories on the website.