C
carp
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US Space Program will now look like in 2012: <br />1. The Shuttle Orbiters are retired to museums and NASA centers for display <br />2. CEV is flying with a crew aboard <br />3. Cargo variants of CEV will be flying.. <br />4. A Shuttle SRB derived launch vehicle for CEV will be flying as the 1st reusable <br />rocket flown by NASA. <br />5. A heavy lift Shuttle derived launch vehicle will be in work <br />6. The International Space Station might be finished and used for its true purpose, to <br />learn how to live, work, build and maintain systems in space <br />7. Design and fabrication of hardware for returning to the Moon would be happening <br />(a 1st in 40 years) <br />What was the US Space Program looking like before the loss of Columbia? <br />The International Space Station had been reduced to US core complete and <br />scheduled for 2004, The Shuttle was going to fly until at least 2020 and maybe <br />longer. No one was going beyond 250 miles. A return to the Moon was a generation <br />away and China and Russia had a better chance of going to Mars than the US. <br /><br />The changes at NASA, the new plan and emphasis for human exploration of the <br />Moon, Mars and the rest of solar system is a fitting tribute to the crew and a fine <br />Spacecraft. <br /><br />