The International Space Station is the most expensive human-made structure - and in just six years it may no longer be there: it will fall into the Pacific Ocean. The BBC has found a man who is trying to save her. List the most seasoned and accomplished astronauts in the world, and astrophysicist Michael Fole will be somewhere in the forefront. The British NASA astronaut spent over a year in space over six missions. Fole flew the shuttle and Soyuz, lived on the Mir space station, and commanded the International Space Station. He performed four spacewalks, spending more than 23 hours in outer space in Russian and American space suits. These included an epic eight-hour walk to upgrade a computer on the Hubble Space Telescope.
“I was very, very, very, very lucky,” he laughs. "Most astronauts envy me, so I probably won't be in space again."
Foul was aboard the Mir in June 1997 when an uncontrolled Progress crashed into the station, swept away the solar panel and shattered the skin. Hearing an alarm signaling loss of air, power outages and station rotation, Fole worked with two Russian colleagues to prepare the Soyuz capsule and close the damaged module.
Keeping his thumb in the station window and studying the movement of the stars, Fole used his physics skills to estimate the station's rotational speed so that the MCC could activate the engines and bring the station back under control.
The fast-thinking crew not only saved the Mir, but also guaranteed the continuation of the mission. Over the next several weeks, Fole worked with colleagues to rebuild the station, its capacity and control over it, and also spent hours flushing condensation from the internal walls.
“I didn't feel like our lives were in danger, longer than ten seconds during the collision,” Fole says. “I only felt that there was always an opportunity to save us, and this feeling told me that there was no need to panic, there was no need to be afraid.”
“This mission was one of the best,” he says. “I've had more opportunities to present solutions to problems than a simple NASA manager would normally have.”
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Twenty years have passed, and Fole, after saving one station, wants to save another: the ISS.
Richard Hollingham of the BBC first met Fole at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in November 1998, shortly after the launch of the first stage of the ISS, the Zarya module. He represented NASA astronauts who were to defend the project. At that stage, he went beyond the allocated budget, was out of schedule and drowned in political disputes.
The ISS, a joint venture between the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and Canada, has provided a place of work for humans since 2000. During this time, the cost of the project has grown to an impressive $ 100 billion.
The station proved that humans can live and work in space for a long time and carry out valuable scientific experiments in orbit. She also showed that countries that can't find common ground on earth - like the United States and Russia - work great together in the sky.
“It is in this cooperation, in this strengthening of partnership, that the value of a project like the ISS lies,” says Fole, who, having flown there on his own in 2003, is one of two astronauts on the international commission overseeing ISS policy and operations.
But the days of the station are numbered. Funding by the various space agencies involved in the project is only stipulated until 2024. This means that in just six years, the most expensive structure in history will go to feed fish in the Pacific Ocean.
The countdown has begun.
“Year after year, Russia has been sending fuel to fill the tanks of the ISS service module so that the space station can be deorbited,” Fole says. "This is the current plan - and I think it's a bad plan, a huge waste of a fantastic resource."
But national priorities are changing, and there is no more money. As the 50th anniversary (July 2019) of the first manned moon landing approaches, Donald Trump has decided to entrust NASA with a return to the Moon. The plan calls for building a space station or "lunar lock" orbiting the moon, and then building a base on the surface. This ambitious project is supported by Jan Werner, head of ESA, and Roscosmos. China has its own plans for the moon.
While none of the proposals have been fully appreciated, it seems unlikely that the space agency will be able to find additional funding for lunar missions in addition to its current missions. Now NASA has at its disposal about $ 8 billion for the development of missions and $ 1.4 billion for the maintenance of the space station and investment in a new spacecraft - the Space Launch System. And if the US government does not find additional funds for NASA or there are cuts in other programs - both are unlikely - any money for the exploration of the moon and the construction of a lunar base will have to come from existing funds.
“There are too many projects and they are all fighting for money,” Fole says. "NASA cannot go to the Moon or Mars while continuing to supply the ISS with crews, cargo, food and supplies."
Since leaving NASA, Fole has worked in the private sector of emerging aviation technology and believes commercial operators can step in and secure the future of the ISS. “I hope that the commercial environment will be able to present a business plan that will partially support the ISS in space, preventing it from drowning in the Pacific Ocean,” he says. "You're going to have to come up with innovative ways to keep her in space."
ISS already supports some commercial operations. Private company NanoRacks is experimenting with equipment at the station for private clients. The station is also increasingly being used to launch small satellites into orbit that are transported on commercial spacecraft such as SpaceX Dragon. The Russian space agency provides an opportunity for tourists to visit the station and even plans to build a hotel module.
While much of the space business is still supported directly or indirectly by governments and taxpayers, the real privatization of space is just beginning. Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, recently successfully tested its new rocket. And space company Virgin Galactic is dreaming of suborbital launches of its Spaceship 2.
Meanwhile, Fole is developing his own campaign to rescue the ISS and says he plans to launch websites to support his efforts. He says there should be continued pressure on space agencies to continue funding the program.
“Every engineer, manager, astronaut or cosmonaut who has worked on the ISS considers it to be such a tremendous achievement for humanity that its work simply cannot stop,” he says. However, unlike the private sector, Fole fears that in 2024 the space agencies - and the politicians who fund them - will destroy humanity's greatest creation, and with it the investments of millions of people around the world.
“My hopes were dashed a thousand times,” Fole says. "I thought we'd be on the moon by the time I hit 35, and on Mars when I'm 45, but how naive I was."
Ilya Khel