"My question: Where is "beyond"? Where will human space exploration take us after Mars? Near-Earth asteroids may come to mind, but is that all, or are we talking about human missions to Jupiter's moons, Saturn's moons, etc. Where will human exploration have taken us in 100 years?"<br /><br />Had you asked such a question of Thomas Jefferson or Lewis or Clark, what do you think their answer would be? If you had asked the Wright brothers what would be the state of aviation in 100 or 103 years, what might they have said? Would they have made correct predictions, or been way off?<br /><br />There is no way to predict the future of any given endeavor (no pun intended). After all, the ISS doesn't look anything like the "wheel" that von Braun posited. <br /><br />Neither is there any guarrantee as to which nation will lead in the exploration of space...not even for Project Constellation/Orion. There are also factors we cannot even foresee in the space exploration/exploitation industry. How fast will commercial space development progress? Will that become a driving force in development of lunar bases, which will, in turn, push the desire for faster exploration?<br /><br />If one will pardon a somewhat risque reference, I will quote my Air Force ROTC instructor, whose specialty was Plans and Operations (G-3):<br /><br />"Pity the poor planner,<br /> he carries neither sword nor pistol!<br /> He tinkles when he walks,<br /> for his balls are made of crystal!"<br /><br />Or to put it another way, if I could predict what might happen in the next fifteen minutes, I could retire as a rich man!<br /><br />Happy Holidays!<br /><br />I think my mantra says it all... To the Moon! To Mars! To the stars! <br /><br />Ad Luna! Ad Ares! Ad Astra! <br /><br /><br />