Future Space Missions

Although the spaces shuttle is being decommissioned it doesn't mean that our exploration of space is coming to a halt; in fact, it's quite the opposite. NASA, over the next ten years and beyond, has many space programs, and space 'adventures', ready to be proceeded with. If the NASA Moon Bomb is any idea of what our future in space going to be like, then the next few decades should be one hell of a ride.

• The orion: A massive spacecraft that has the purpose to return us to the moon by 2020, and - hopefully - be used to travel to the space station by 2015. This thing will be able to withstand massive amounts of gravity, as well as hold many crew members. Could this be the beginning of it all.
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Can humans live on mars? It's one of the biggest questions being asked today by the general public, and a question NASA is trying its best to answer. The Reconnaissance Orbiter has been in commission since 2005 and has been a huge success. What it does is simple - it orbits Mars and takes pictures. It has already taken over ten thousands pictures with some of the detail so intricate that even scientists are bewildered. Our journey towards Mars starts with this.
• Mars Science Laboratory: The next rover to land on Mars will be this guy. He'll be bigger, more equipped and much more rugged. The reconnaissance orbiter will take the pictures and be the guide, while MSL will do all the dirty work. This should be fun to watch.
• Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo: Definitely the coolest project in the works and the quickest to be completed. The Virgin Galactic SpaceShip is the first commercial plane set to go into space. And in 2011 it will ready to launch. The price: $200 000.
• Space Elevator: If anyone has read Arthur C. Clark they'll know about his idea of the Space Elevator. The idea is fairly simple: build a cable system which can carry astronauts from Earth into an orbiting space craft. It would make space travel more feasible, as well as save money, and resources. It's still mostly science fiction, though.
• Juno: Not as commercial and exciting as the rest of them, but still very important. NASA is sending a probe to scan Jupiter. Exciting right? In actuality we know very little about Jupiter, as well as Saturn, so this probe is vital for solving the gas giants mysteries.

Space is the future. We all know that. Right now it's still science fiction, but these programs, by NASA and beyond, are a step in the right direction to make the science more of a reality.

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