The ISS will finish its work in a few years.
Jim Inman Photo: nasa.gov
It sounds like something out of a movie… a massive space station falling to the Earth, landing in the ocean.
But in an announcement from NASA, it’s true. The International Space Station will end its service by 2030, and will ultimately crash into a remote section of the Pacific Ocean.
The space station was launched in 2000, and has orbited more than 200 miles above Earth. Hundreds of astronauts from more than 19 countries have spent time of the space station, according to NASA.
Over the next eight years the space station will be used as an “analog for a Mars transit mission,” according to the announcement.
When the space station completes its 30-year tenure, NASA will bring the 356-foot spacecraft down into the area of the South Pacific known as Point Nemo. The area is roughly 3,000 miles of the eastern coast of New Zealand and 2,000 miles north of Antarctica. A variety of space debris has descended into that area over the last 50 years.
What’s next for astronauts planning to live in outer space? NASA’s announcement said that a shared effort of private and government programs would be used to develop a “venue of collaboration and scientific research.”
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For many years people have relied on Facebook to share baby photos, political views, common interests and opinions on anything and everything.
After a steady climb of users, Facebook’s parent company – Meta – announced Wednesday that there was a decline in daily active users during the fourth quarter of 2021.
The numbers – Facebook went from 1.93 billion users in the third quarter to 1.929 billion at the end of the year.
While that number is still huge, and Meta’s other social media apps – Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger – added users, the news hit Facebook hard in the stock market.
On Thursday shares of Meta dropped more than 26%.
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders that competition from rival apps like TikTok have given people more options to share news and videos.
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A number of closings and delays are expected on Friday, February 4 as Bloomington and Monroe County handles the snowstorm. Be sure to follow local guidelines on travel, and contact a business or organization before making a trip.
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