Agency lacks clear vision for future of space exploration
(NEWSER) - Atlantis' wheels will hit Earth early Thursday, closing out NASA's epic 30-year space shuttle program for good. But when the dust clears, the space agency has no clear replacement program on the horizon to lead America's return to space, notes the LA Times . Rather, the trailblazing agency is shuffling its feet and mumbling about a private service to ferry astronauts to the space station and vague plans for manned deep-space flights in the 2020s and '30s. "I'm very disappointed about where we are today," said Robert Crippen, an astronaut aboard the first shuttle flight and later NASA exec. "NASA's future is very fuzzy right now." More»
