Europe wants life of ISS extended
The European Space Agency (ESA) wants the International Space Station to keep flying at least through 2020…five years past its sceduled retirement.
Jean-Jacques Dordain, Dirctor General of ESA, says that science at the ISS is being hurt by uncertainty over its future. He says that scientists seem reluctant to propose new projects for a facility that may be closing in just a few years.
One big barrier to extending the life of the ISS is money. Some ideas are being propsed to cut the cost of operations, including smaller flight crews and fewer monitoring stations on the ground. (Some say their is unnecessary redundancy in ground operations.)
No word yet from the other partners in the ISS. In addition to Europe, partners include Japan, Russia, Canada and the U.S.
