Hi, Star Gazers!

Did you guys know the International# Space Station is going to be deorbited back down here on Earth?

It's reaching the end of its# life in space.

What does that even mean?

To gain some insights on this historic retirement,# I called commercial astronaut Sirisha Bandla.

Here's the 411 on what's going to happen to the International Space Station.

So the International#Space Station is an incredible feat for humanity.

It's the largest human-made object orbiting in space right now, so it's roughly the size# of a football field, which is incredible and it was first launched in 1998 and has had# humans occupying the space station since 2000.

So it's really cool to think that we have had# humans continuously in space because of the International Space Station for almost 25 years.# The International Space Station is primarily used for science and research and technology# development.

You have an environment in space that doesn't have gravity that we all feel here# on Earth and it provides an incredible opportunity to look at the fundamentals of things that we# almost take for granted, like fire, combustion, fluids.

How fluids act in their environment is# so much different in space than it is on Earth.

The human body, looking at how the body operates# in microgravity or very close to zero gravity is very different again than how it is on Earth and# we learn so much by taking that one constant away.

So one thing about the International Space Station# that I find just absolutely incredible is it's an international partnership.

It is a partnership# between multiple agencies that have come together to create an environment for research and science# and technology that we develop together and I believe just as important as the research and# technology and science coming out of the station, that cooperation that we see in space is very very# incredible to see and is how we as humanity are going to thrive in space through these types of# international cooperations and partnerships.

"Good morning, Expedition 64!

Good morning, Expedition# 65!

Good morning, Expedition 66!

We are..." The International Space Station is scheduled# to be deorbited in 2030 and NASA recently announced an award to SpaceX to develop the# deorbit vehicle that will bring it down safely.

So the plans for deorbit haven't really been# developed to a full extent, but there are companies working on it with NASA.

They'll take the station# and bring it down most likely in parts over the Pacific Ocean, so that it can burn up safely and# not be harmful to anybody on the ground.

So the deorbit plans for the International Space Station# entails just a few things.

One, the technology is aging, so there are parts of the station that# rather than continue to upkeep, it's easier to deorbit and replace.

And the second, we have a lot# of commercial interest in providing commercial LEO destinations for the future so it's, you see this# a lot in space flight and also other industries, where the government is the first to do something# that is so audacious and so new that there's no market for it.

However once they've done that and# they've started the ball on a market and started the ball on technologies that commercial companies# can take and develop with private funding, the government then takes its resources to the next# audacious thing.

And we're seeing that in lower Earth orbit, where the government was the first# to do something so incredibly cool and new, put humans in space for long periods of time, build# an incredibly complex large human-made object in orbit, but now it's going to be focusing on other# destinations and transitioning this lower Earth orbit to commercial companies that have interest,# that see the market, that have the investment to then create the next level of technology for# humans to thrive in space.

I am so excited for the future of humans in space.

So I grew up knowing# that we've launched humans in space, but it was a novel thing that humans could live there long# term.

It's incredible to see generations growing up having humans in space their entire life# and while it seems like we've done it, we've had humans in space, it's easy, it is still an# incredible feat for humanity.

We should all be incredibly proud of what we're accomplishing in# space and I'm excited to see where that goes next with more and more people living and working in# space.

As a Trekkie, that is my dream.

You could have an occupation that allows you to live in space# in the future, that's not just an astronaut.

You could be an artist living in space, you could be a politician living in space.

This is the future I'm really excited about and this is what's going to# be enabled by more stations, more destinations and more companies looking to privatize low Earth#orbit.

Thanks so much, Sirisha!

Catch the ISS up in#the sky before it's too late and it's, you know, back# down here on the ground.

Keep looking up!

For more Star Gazers, click the video below.

Don't# leave me hanging.

Come on, click it, click it.