What is NASA up to now?

[Emily]

I haven't heard about anything really related to space for a while now. But I don't think I'm looking hard enough, I was just wondering what is NASA looking at in space (are they still trying to find planets that can attain life, ect.) thanks!

[GeoffG]

The page below lists NASA's current missions. Last time I counted there were just short of a hundred different missions. The ones that interest me the most are the Curiosity rover on Mars, Cassini in orbit around Saturn, New Horizons on its way to Pluto, and the various solar satellites. There is LOTS of stuff going on!

[Mark]

Well there's the curiosity rover, several scouting satellites surveying the solar system, and all of the normal research they do in labs and on the ISS.

So they are still around and making themselves useful but they aren't funded well enough to do manned spaceflights or anything like that.

They are also working with SpaceX and several other contractors to hurry along the commercial space industry. And the CEO of SpaceX is a BRILLIANT man. His name is Elon Musk and he is a true visionary. The real life Tony Stark. He wants to put men on the moon in 10 years. And he says he believes he'll be able to offer round trips to Mars for $500,000. Which sounds insanely, but considering all that he has accomplished so far, I'm not going to doubt him now.

Follow NASA on Twitter and YouTube. There are several YT and Twitter accounts for NASA(one for each major facility). There you will be able to keep up with everything they're doing. You should do the same for SpaceX as well.

[Starrysky]

A couple hundred miles above the Earth, where the orbiting ISS has astronauts aboard.