The need for an International Museum of Space Artifacts

The International Space Artifact Museum, at the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point, would house decommissioned space stations and observatories, preventing them from being destroyed by fire. (credit: M. Thangavelu)

By Madhu Thangavelu
Monday, August 12, 2024

The question hanging over us right now is what to do with the International Space Station (ISS) when it is decommissioned. NASA's report on the reasons for decommissioning the ISS suggests that the agency's imagination (and budget) seems to be running out.

It seems that, because of new projects like the Lunar Gateway and Artemis, the agency is being hampered by more human spaceflight programs than it can afford to expend resources on. The easy way out is to eliminate the International Space Station, to wipe the paper, so that NASA can move on to new programs. The agency claims it has received no credible offers or requests to transfer operations to another entity. I hope that our people's collective vision of the future does not succumb to this vacuum of creativity.

In addition to the new knowledge these facilities have generated, the International Space Station and observatories like Hubble and JWST have a profound meaning associated with them. Their true value far exceeds the science and technology of our time. We should find ways to protect and preserve our collective heritage as a species, not destroy it and, worse yet, leave no trace of the precious, unique artifacts that continue to shape and evolve the vision of who we are and our purpose and place in the cosmos.

Beyond its mere scientific value or technological advancement, the International Space Station has an enormous “symbolic” meaning, a symbolism that lies at the foundation of the philosophy upon which ideologies are built and the policies of nations are formulated.

The ISS was built and is maintained through global participation and cooperation among nations with different cultural and governing philosophies. The values ​​of the free world and peaceful collaboration are the foundation of the ISS program. The exchange of ideas, technologies and hardware to conceive, build and operate the ISS has created bonds in international relations and brought nations, even adversaries, together in a common peaceful quest. Human spaceflight is at the heart of this quest.

Just take a look at the diverse crew of astronauts aboard the ISS and the global support team that is associated with such an endeavor. Forget the budget. The physical effort of thousands of highly skilled scientists, engineers, technicians and policy makers who set to work to bring the nations of the world together to create, operate and maintain the ISS program far outweighs all the budgetary issues and associated drama.

Unlike the Salyut, Skylab or Mir missions, which were symbols of national prestige, or the Chinese Tiangong station now in orbit, sinking the ISS would set back our common cosmopolitan ambitions as a species rather than further improving and enriching the spirit of global collaboration and cooperation.

We should create new orbital stations and extraterrestrial habitats. We should also use our collective imagination to at least continue servicing this unique facility until the next generation of stations becomes a reality. Otherwise, we will face a situation similar to the space transportation gap we faced after the agency retired the space shuttle.

If the ISS is really showing signs of aging and is unsafe for crew, we should find ways to preserve it uncrewed, in a parking orbit, making it the centerpiece of an International Space Artifact Museum that would include other historic assets like the old Hubble.

We proposed a concept for such an installation in our book on the Moon, The Moon, resources, future development and settlements.

Although we suggest the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point as the final location in cislunar space for the Space Museum, we could begin collecting and preserving artifacts in a suitable Earth parking orbit until we develop more suitable transportation and propulsion systems to locate it farther out.

Yes, there are difficult engineering problems to solve, but there are technologies that can solve them. For example, advanced electric propulsion combined with power from existing large solar arrays can gently propel the ISS into a higher orbit, where LEO constellation traffic is much more manageable and the threat of debris is lower. Electrodynamic tethers installed on spacecraft that interact with Earth’s magnetic field to alter orbits have been proposed in the past. It may also be possible to gently propel the ISS’s fragile truss structure using small conventional thrusters that employ deep throttling, several of which are being built and tested using state-of-the-art additive manufacturing methods.

Furthermore, the growing threat from orbital debris that the agency notes, mostly from assumptions in studies, can be mitigated by mounting high-energy laser systems that are already mature and in use today by the military and heavy industry. By adopting this line-of-sight speed-of-light (LOSSOL) targeting approach, the ISS has enough power on board to neutralize any threat posed by debris. Furthermore, this LOSSOL mitigation technology is vital as we plan to execute fast-trajectory manned interplanetary missions using nuclear propulsion. It is time to develop and certify such debris threat mitigation systems and the ISS could be the host for this critical technological development.

The most difficult issues may lie in modifying existing memoranda of understanding between partners. Partner countries with deep historical roots also know the immense value of history and preservation. Our nation must lead the effort as it always has, and continue to provide maximum resources to keep the facility in orbit. We must also encourage more partners to join the coalition to preserve the International Space Station, just as we are doing now with the Artemis Accords.

It is good to remember that we hold dear and deeply value the continuity of civilization through the preservation of historical artifacts around the world. Culture is enriched and future generations will value the preservation of the heritage of historical artifacts of our era.

And that is why we have cultural heritage sites and museums around the world, to protect and preserve the continuity of thought and creativity of our species and our civilization, so that we do not forget how we came to be what we are today and what our aspirations are for tomorrow; what we hope to be.

And in the philosophy of civil architecture, we also rehabilitate and repair historically relevant buildings and infrastructure around the world. In fact, some structures in use today date back to the cradle of civilization.

The time is right to begin developing the infrastructure necessary to create an International Space Artifacts Museum that will preserve our species' heritage in space and on celestial bodies as we explore and settle lands beyond planet Earth. The promise of new technologies for the maintenance and evolution of future Endurance-class spacecraft can evolve through that effort.

ISS collaboration has paid rich dividends in the past and continues to do so today, and our bipartisan leadership should act proactively to propose a creative plan with established partners along with emerging space-faring nations to establish such a museum when the time comes to decommission this unique facility.

Our leaders know it and our architects are ready to act too!

Madhu Thangavelu He directs the ASTE527 graduate-level space exploration architecture conceptual synthesis studio in the Department of Astronautical Engineering at the Viterbi School of Engineering and the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California. He is on the faculty of the International Space University, an international organization that trains space professionals worldwide. He is a director of the National Space Society and coordinator of North American activities for the Moon Village Association.

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