NASA - What Comes Next?

Are ALL dreams going to be sacrificed on the alter of money.  Is JFK's dream dead?  Obviously NASA doesn't think so.

"Facing Budget Battles, NASA Still Aims High With Asteroid Capture Mission" PBS Newshour 8/19/2013

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  Now: the future of the U.S. space program and the many questions surrounding it, the mission, the money, and the politics.

More than two years ago, space shuttle Atlantis touched down for final the time at the Kennedy Space Center.

CHRIS FERGUSON, NASA:  After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history and has come to a final stop.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  The landing marked the end of a more-than-three-decade-long era for the shuttle program and came after NASA's glory days with trips to the moon.

Manned spaceflight has not been the sole focal point of NASA's success.  Powerful telescopes have revealed new insights about thousands of potential planets.  Astronauts still do research on the International Space Station.  And robotic rovers on Mars have beamed back images and information about the red planet's surface.

But facing budget cutbacks and political pressures, NASA now faces a looming question:  What comes next?