<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - NASA sends two women astronauts out on rare, all-female spacewalk"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/11/10/nasa-tool-bag-dropped-by-astronauts-international-space-station/71536725007/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">International Space Station</a> has been continuously occupied by spacefarers from countries around the world for the last two decades, but it's time among the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/31/aliens-nasa-commercial-spaceflight-top-space-stories-of-2023/71982253007/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">cosmos</a> won't last forever.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Even now, NASA is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/faqs-the-international-space-station-transition-plan/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">laying the groundwork</a> for plans to safely deorbit and land the low-Earth orbit space station, the largest of its kind ever built.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Private companies have until <a target="_blank" href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/09/20/nasa-seeks-proposals-from-us-industry-for-station-deorbit-spacecraft/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Feb. 12</a> to submit design proposals for "a new or modified spacecraft using a large amount of propellant" that in the years ahead, will be tasked with docking with the space station and safely crashing it into an ocean. NASA plans to award the contract <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/usdv/#schedule" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">in June</a> for the vehicle, which will be deployed upon the space station's impending retirement in 2030.</p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:440px" fetchpriority="high" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2023/09/27/USAT/70979860007-xxx-iss-069-e-006030-orbital-outpost-1.JPG?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2023/09/27/USAT/70979860007-xxx-iss-069-e-006030-orbital-outpost-1.JPG?width=1320&height=880&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="The Roscosmos segment of the International Space Station is pictured in 2023 as the orbital outpost soared 261 miles above the north Atlantic Ocean."/></figure><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong class="gnt_ar_b_al">UFO sightings:</strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/11/ufo-sightings-house-bill-uap/72178065007/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|spike click:5|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Civilian pilots could report UAP to FAA under proposed bill</a></p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_mt">What is the International Space Station?</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Designed and operated thanks to a global partnership of space agencies, the International Space Station has been home to crews of astronauts, cosmonauts and plenty of others since November 2000, NASA <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-facts-and-figures/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">says</a>.</p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">More than 260 spacefarers from 20 countries have visited to the International Space Station,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-visitors-by-country/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a"> including 163 from the United States</a> alone, according to the U.S. space agency.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Crew members who live and conduct scientific experiment aboard the space station orbit Earth 16 times a day. The orbital outpost is larger than a six-bedroom house with six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-overview/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">NASA</a>.</p><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em_cp gnt_em_cp__sp" aria-label="Space tales and cosmic discoveries" data-c-cta="INTERESTING READS"><div class="gnt_em_cp_cw"><img class="gnt_em_cp_cw_i" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2023/11/07/USAT/71489953007-ap-europe-space-telescope.jpg?crop=3743,2809,x0,y467&width=258&height=193&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2023/11/07/USAT/71489953007-ap-europe-space-telescope.jpg?crop=3743,https://www.usatoday.com/2809,https://www.usatoday.com/x0,https://www.usatoday.com/y467&width=516&height=386&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt=""/></div></aside><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Since 1998, more than...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/01/16/nasa-international-space-station-decommission/72240686007/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>