Software has already been updated to optimize.
"They are doing, step by step, the work that needs to be done. To prepare for the space station's ultimate demise, NASA is checking off a list of events that need to occur before it can leave orbit, Patricia Sanders, chairwoman of the safety panel, said in an interview. That knocked the orbiting laboratory out of its normal position and caused it to spin 1 1/2 times before engineers regained control. One reason for doubt is that Russia's recent activity at the space station was marked by a hair-raising accident when its new science and living module, the Nauka, fired thrusters accidentally July 29. 1X1MrBGrHN- International Space Station August 7, 2021 1) South Africa 2) Italy 3) Middle East 4) Russia. These views of from the space station show the variety of city lights from around the world. Most officials familiar with the plan believe Russia is capable of performing the maneuver, but the uncertainly lies in whether it will - and do so without a hitch. Having Russia act as the demolition leader would be a matter of trust. is the only other vehicle that we're looking at potentially being used besides the Russian Progress," Huot said. NASA is focused on Northrop Grumman's Cygnus as a possible alternative, Dan Huot, a space agency public affairs officer, said in an interview. If a Russian spacecraft isn't used, other spacecraft that could be modified include the SpaceX Dragon, Japanese H-2A or Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo capsule, according to a study of the decommissioning process by European scientists.
Solar panels would disappear first, while remnants of engines, laboratories and living quarters would fall into the sea. Friction from the air would heat the 450-ton structure so fast that parts of it would melt quickly. The space station would succumb gradually to Earth's gravity and the increased drag from the atmosphere. That much of the plan is still on the table, NASA confirmed. An early draft of the deorbit plan dating to 2010 said Russia was to modify a Progress service module, which would use its thrusters to guide the massive platform into the atmosphere starting at its normal speed of about 17,000 mph.