roberto
a lot of effort & money is going and has gone into near earth exploration.
during the hiatus betw the last actual moon landing & now,is human exp downtime,while we still learn what is out there,in preparation for the means to sen the next humans on top of a 10k mph vertical rocket sled to take them to the next destination,mars or the moon,again,
Ronald 7
Because Probes are doing such a Sterling Job with no fuss
Opportunity has just been turned off after 14 years
It was only proposed for three
Cassini 5 years and it lasted 22
Voyager 1 was launched in 1979
The Russians are sending Americans to the ISS
And the Bionic Barf Bunnies drive their Intergalactic Trash Trucks
tham153
China and Russia each launch manned spacecraft. NASA pays Russia $75 million for each American launched. The International Space Station has had a crew on board continuously since 2001, and at least five tourists have paid to go to the ISS
?
"like a million"? You're an idiot if you believe that. Only Russia currently has the capability of launching people, and people go up to the International Space Station frequently that way. And there are plenty of unmanned launches taking supplies to the ISS, space probes to the planets and satellites into Earth orbit.
billrussell42
"we do have like a million spaceships" ?? we (U.S.) have zero spaceships, that is, rockets that are human-rated. Russia and China are the only countries that have any.
Next mission is probably a Russian one to the International Space Station to swap out crew. It is scheduled for 28 February 2019, via a Soyuz MS-12.
The U.S. does have some human-rated rockets under development that can reach orbit:
Dragon 2, late 2019
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, late 2019
NASA's Orion 2023
Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser 2020
SpaceX's Starship 2019