That thing is nearing the end of its useful life.
Time for the US to get a new one up there.
Frankly, overdue.
But, current admin does not have the foresight to even get a new program started.
Originally Posted by Unique_Carpenter
not so sure it's used up or not but the point moot. the station only exists at all because of the space shuttle. once the US decided to end the shuttle program it did effectively put an expiration date on the station. and without the shuttle or a heavy lift rocket approaching the lifting power of the Saturn V how would we build a new one?
the two shuttle disasters were tragic but avoidable. certainly the first one, the later one more complicated but not impossible to avoid.
the reason for the first one was NASA under pressure to make the launch window. they ignored Morton Thiokol who warned NASA the rubber O rings they made for the boosters weren't rated for use at freezing temperatures and thus one failed. while that O ring or just about any other part can fail at any time the odds that O ring would have failed if they had simply waited a few days for warmer weather (this is Florida after all) then the odds go down significantly.
the second was a structural failure of the shuttle itself. you could argue the shuttle's heat tiles could have been better inspected and maintained before the launch. even replaced regularly due to the critical nature of them. of course this takes time and money. once in space a repair like that is considerably more difficult but not entirely impossible. problem was .. they didn't have the materials to try it.
at this point i note that it was a debris strike that caused the tile failure during launch that caused this. that said it's possible a more aggressive maintenance program "might" have allowed the tiles to survive the strike.
last, NASA ultimately determined there was no risk. there had been incidents in prior missions without failure. well that's like driving a car with high miles and then one day it does break down.
as i recall because NASA determined there was no risk for reentry no attempt for a rescue was made. it was considered. the space station was habitable at the time albeit smaller than its final version. housing 7 astronauts might have been possible for long enough to send either one shuttle to get them all or several capsules to get them. and the damaged shuttle itself could have been used as shelter awaiting a rescue.
