15. Missions to Mars

Lean U.S. missions to Mars, Jupiter moon recommended - Reuters, Mar 7, 2011

For the decade 2013-2022, five separate panels of scientists and experts agreed on a suite of missions that would get the greatest scientific return from money spent, recognizing that even these projects could be budget busters. The recomendations put limits on a mission's budget, stating that they only should be undertaken if the cost is about $2.5 billion, which is $1 billion less than independent estimates. The missons planned are a mission to Europa and its subsurface ocean -- which might support life (considered a second priority mission), and space missions to Mars.

To me this is good news since I was under the impression that American government essentially scrapped all space exploration plans, especially so - planeary expeditions. I knew that president Barack Obama followed earlier administrations in recognizing the end of the space shuttle era -- the final mission occurred this year. Obama also canceled his predecessor's Constellation moon program, angering some lawmakers and former astronauts who argued that it would make the United States a second or third-rate power in space. These plans give us some hope that our country would continue to be a country with ambitious space research program.