There is a ton of external wiring and plumbing connecting modules, so it isn't as easy as undocking one. Think about all the power and cooling connections that have to route to the truss, plus all the data lines between modules. The US segment and Russian segment are inextricably linked with all those external connections, and potentially even cold welded together at the mechanical interface.
The maintenance is piling up on old parts. One of the selling points of new stations is to dramatically reduce the part count. Imagine stocking dozens of types of fans, fasteners, pipe fittings, connectors, etc for a bunch of different heritage modules.
Companies building new stations don't want the old stuff. NASA asked them. Even cargo modules, like Leonardo, which is basically a can, aren't desirable. At some point (idk if this is still true) Axiom was going to get the Raffaello cargo module out of storage on the ground to convert and reuse it, but that's all I'm aware of.
ISS feels like a ticking time bomb with leaks and old hardware. It's a big failure of NASA leadership to not advance the replacements sooner. I'm also sure that Boeing keeps lobbying for ISS extensions to keep their $1 billion a year to fly it.
I don't hate the change, because buying down some risk in Earth orbit makes a lot of sense, but I'm still not convinced that the landers will be ready for a demo flight next year.
Fridge cleaning tacos are great. I just made tacos with leftover grilled chicken, what was left of a red onion, a jalapeño that was starting to wrinkle, and some jarred tikka masala sauce.
The next Leo launch was supposed to be a Vulcan, but that might be grounded. Ariane has more scheduled for March and May. They've done a 1.5 month turnaround before, so it's possible.
I did not expect Ariane 6 to become a constellation workhorse, but that might happen over the next few months.
New Shepard also did some uncrewed flights for microgravity research payloads. It had a longer weightless period than the Vomit Comet. That seems like the main value that will be lost, but the cost and staff had to be really tough to justify.
There is a ton of external wiring and plumbing connecting modules, so it isn't as easy as undocking one. Think about all the power and cooling connections that have to route to the truss, plus all the data lines between modules. The US segment and Russian segment are inextricably linked with all those external connections, and potentially even cold welded together at the mechanical interface.
The maintenance is piling up on old parts. One of the selling points of new stations is to dramatically reduce the part count. Imagine stocking dozens of types of fans, fasteners, pipe fittings, connectors, etc for a bunch of different heritage modules.
Companies building new stations don't want the old stuff. NASA asked them. Even cargo modules, like Leonardo, which is basically a can, aren't desirable. At some point (idk if this is still true) Axiom was going to get the Raffaello cargo module out of storage on the ground to convert and reuse it, but that's all I'm aware of.