Hi! Apologies, but I prefer not being on camera. I'm happy to share my text-based thoughts if that's of any use to you. Many thanks.

For my American followers - VPNs are your friend. 🙂

I used to be attracted to the idealism of it, but now it's been politicised and weaponised like never before, and become a pursuit of manchild billionaires.

I think Russia & Soyuz are beginning to look like a more reliable "partner" at this point! Wow, what a complete dick Musk has turned out to be. The wheels are coming off for SpaceX, and NASA is done IMO. And I think I'm just about done following space.

And BTW, I'm rapidly running out of space exploration entities that I can support - it seems to be a choice now between tyrannical governments or the obscenely wealthy. Not exactly in the spirit of "for all mankind".

Of course ISS will need to be retired someday, but it's not ready yet - its only just reaching the apex of its capabilities. Commercial stations are simply not going to be ready to take over by 2030. The US Segment could fly into the 2040s IMO.

The limiting factor is likely to be the Russian Segment, which has some more serious issues (namely leaks). NASA should therefore continue development of the ISS deorbit vehicle, with a view to it one day replacing the Russian Segment to provide propulsion for the ISS.

Many components have far exceeded expectations in terms of their design life, and a healthy stock of spares exists onboard. Almost any component aside from the pressure vessel itself can be replaced if needed.