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| International Space Station |
President Barack Obama has expressed the commitment of his administration to continual support of the International Space Station by extending its support for the station by 4 years. This means that the ISS will remain operational for another decade.
The decision to keep the orbital research platform open through 2024, according to White House and NASA means the nation would be extending its support of the project.
In a joint statement, White House science adviser John Holdren and NASA administrator Charles Bolden said the station “offers enormous scientific and societal benefits.”
NASA said it hopes to use the station to study the effects of long-duration space flight on astronauts in preparation for new missions beyond Earth in the coming decades.
It said the ISS is also needed for studies of long-range space flight, as a platform for Earth science studies and to boost a growing private space industry, Bolden and Holdren said.
In its fifteenth year of existence, the station currently houses six crew members, including three Russian cosmonauts, two U.S. astronauts and one Japanese astronaut.
NASA currently contributes about $3 billion a year to its operations, which are also supported by Russia, Canada, Japan and members of the European Space Agency.
“With a partnership that includes 15 nations and with 68 nations currently using the ISS in one way or another, this unique orbiting laboratory is a clear demonstration of the benefits to humankind that can be achieved through peaceful global cooperation,” Holdren and Bolden said.
