KOMPUTER JADUL-, The ISS or International Space Station is nearing the end of its operational period and is planned to be withdrawn from space in 2030. However, Elon Musk has asked for the station to be destroyed sooner.
"It's time to begin preparations for deorbiting @Space_Station. The station has served its purpose. Its utility is very low. Let's go to Mars," said the SpaceX boss and Donald Trump's advisor via X.
In another X post, he explained his desired schedule. "The decision is in the hands of the President, but my recommendation is as soon as possible. I suggest 2 years from now," he said.
This means that the richest person in the world wants the ISS to be destroyed in 2027 or 3 years ahead of schedule. However, what is confusing is that SpaceX was asked by NASA to make an ISS deorbit vehicle designed to withdraw it in 2030 and be destroyed in a measured manner.
Even though it is so old, the ISS is still very useful. Astronauts still visit it regularly to conduct various experiments, including testing what it would be like if humans explored long-term space. Such research is certainly useful for SpaceX, which has ambitions to go to Mars as Elon Musk wants.
NASA and its partners in the ISS project, namely the Canadian Space Agency, The European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, built the laboratory in 1998. This laboratory has hosted astronauts who have come and gone continuously since November 2000.
Musk has indeed confused the space community lately. In a December X post, he dismissed the landing on the Moon and called it a distraction. "We're going straight to Mars," he wrote at the time.
Even though that is not part of NASA's current plans. NASA is trying to bring astronauts back to the Moon through the Artemis program and sees Earth's closest neighbor as a stepping stone to the Red Planet.
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