why do we have to crash the ISS into the ocean? Can’t we send it out of Earth’s orbit safely, to crash on another planet, the sun or just keep going? Also: why can’t we do this with all the space junk that orbits the earth now?
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It requires *a lot* of energy to push something out of Earth orbit. There’s a reason we’ve only been able to send a couple of tons of hardware to Mars. It’s super duper expensive. The ISS is a lot bigger than that, and would require a ridiculous amount of thrust. It’s also not made to be moved, except for small, slow burns to move it out of the way of a piece of debris, or to raise its orbit a bit. The major jolts it’d take to lift it out of orbit would likely break it apart.
Besides, why *not* crash it into the ocean? Most of it will burn up in the atmosphere, and then a few tons of metal will eventually hit the ocean? That’s really no problem.
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