Quote:
Originally Posted by justinsain
Don't hold your breath because NASA doesn't have much planned for the near future when it comes to manned space flights. The next one will probably come from the private sector.
|
I never hold my breath where NASA is concerned because whenever they start in about some new project or plans for future missions etc they are invariably always on a 5-10 year timeframe.
But you're not entirely correct, there is actually a lot of talk on news and space programs about plans for near future space exploration, including a trip to Mars with a prior stopover on an asteroid between here and there. Of course if this does happen it would be closer to 2015-2020 before it happens.
The thing that seems to be the most often mentioned as to what's holding them back is budget. They (the experts and NASA people being interviewed) all seem to feel fairly confident they have enough to develop certain technologies, such as a mulit-environment rover, but that after they build such toys they may not have the funds to actually use it, as in send it anywhere.