In 2011, NASA ended its space shuttle program. Loosing 10,000 workers, NASA was left with only 7,000 workers.
Is NASA fading away? No. In fact, NASA will still be carrying out some missions this year and in the future.
Recently, on September 6, 2013, NASA launched its Lunar Atmospheric and Dust Environment Explorer. The Explorer will investigate the moon’s atmosphere, the environmental influences of the lunar dust, and the conditions of the lunar surface.
NASA will also be conducting a mission to investigate the atmosphere of Mars on November 18, 2013. This will be the first mission devoted to studying the planet’s atmosphere. According to NASA, the goals of the mission are to “determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time.”
As for junior Ashwin Xamukrishnam, he hopes that “NASA will bring more missions” similar to the Mars Rover mission to study Mars, a current area of interest for future civilization according to OpenMinds.
As for NASA’s proposed mission to Europa, a moon of Jupiter, nothing has been discussed. The mission was seen as ground-breaking, because it would research the icy floors of Europa and the possibilities of life in the theorized body of water below the ice. NASA’s proposal for a mission to Europa seemed to be too costly to be conducted in 2009, and even for today’s economy.
Junior Jeremy Howle wants NASA to get “up and running and explore the planets.” He does not want the research of outer-space to be limited by government money.
While this may be a future mission for NASA, there are still developing plans to study Mars and Earth’s moon.