ISS Gets BIG Altitude Boost to Help Keep it in Orbit Through 2020

Forgive me if this was posted already, but I didn't see anything about it...

Looking at the information about the upcoming space shuttle (STS-135) docking with the ISS (International Space Station), i nioticed that the ISS recently received a huge boost in it's altitude last month. Atmospheric drag slows the ISS down over time, which causes its altitude to drop. Left unchecked over an extended period of time, the ISS would eventually drop out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere -- i.e., it can't stay up there forever by itself without something being done to keep it there.

Therefore, every so often the ISS boosts its altitude, either through its own engines, or by the another docked craft (such as a shuttle) using its engines to boost the station. In late May and early June, the European's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) provide the single largest boost the station ever got, boosting the altitude from 345 km to almost 390 km -- a 10% increase in altitude.

As you can see by this graph, the recent boost in altitude was a major one:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ee9cb5021998.png[/atsimg]
source: www.heavens-above.com...


Here's a link to an ESA article about the ATV boost. The article includes an animation of the boost:

Raising the ISS: ATV Johannes Kepler Conducts the 'Big Boost'


Further small boosts in altitude will be required over the next several years, but this big boost will help the ISS use less of its own fuel, and require fewer future boosts, because of the reduced atmosphere at that higher altitude (less atmosphere = less drag).

This boost and future smaller boosts will ensure that the ISS can stay in orbit through at least 2020.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Haha, so THATS the official reason/excuse. Here I was thinking they conveniently moved it to avoid a certain NEO coming soon.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.bbc.co.uk...

posted earlier with all current data of ISS, Hubble and last Shuttle Alantis

PDUK

If the prediction of a lull in solar activity turns out to be correct it could help the Station as well.

High solar activity causes the "atmosphere" at orbital altitudes to heat up, increasing drag. That's what led to the premature demise of Skylab. Skylab was in a higher orbit than the Station yet high solar activity caused its orbit to decay much faster than planned.

As with Skylab, the ISS will eventually be empty of humans, its job done forscientific, economic (for industries) and propagandaic reasons. Perhaps it will be saved for the balance of humanity as a monument, or perhaps fiscal responsibility will dictate that it must eventually perish as happens with outmoded technologies from 747s to battleships.

I suspect that the tremenndous boost will be the last for the ISS and a countdown will be issued at some point as to its demise. The shuttles will be placed in spaceware museums ..The ISS cannot not be brought to Earth so we can expect that it will be used as a tremendeously blazing monument to the past glory of rockets. Because by that time we will be well past that stage.

reply to post by Phage


It also didn't help it lost one of it's two solar arrays.

reply to post by Aliensun


The ISS is there for the continued study of space radiation effects for one thing, there are many other reasons it is up there in microgravity, continuously added to it's near complete configuration, waiting for many more scientific experiments to be mounted outside and within its compartments. The ISS is far far far from over.

As well as the mounting of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, the mission, to seek out answers to the mysteries of antimatter, dark matter, and cosmic ray propagation in the universe, delivered by the second to last Space Shuttle a couple months ago.