The Future for NASA - http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/wha…
The end of the space shuttle program does not mean the end of NASA, or even of NASA sending humans into space. NASA has a robust program of exploration, technology development and scientific research that will last for years to come. Here is what's next for NASA:
NASA is designing and building the capabilities to send humans to explore the solar system, working toward a goal of landing humans on Mars.
The International Space Station is fully staffed with a crew of six, and American astronauts will continue to live and work there in space 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Part of the U.S. portion of the station has been designated as a national laboratory, and NASA is committed to using this unique resource for scientific research.
Commercial companies are well on their way to providing cargo and crew flights to the ISS, allowing NASA to focus its attention on the next steps into our solar system.
NASA is researching ways to design and build aircraft that are safer, more fuel-efficient, quieter, and environmentally responsible. NASA is also part of the government team that is working to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, to be in place by the year 2025.
NASA is conducting an unprecedented array of science missions that will seek new knowledge and understanding of Earth, the solar system and the universe.
FROM - http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/planetary/mar…
Mars Climate:
Scientists think that the climate on Mars 3.5 billion years ago was similar to that of early Earth: warm and wet. But because of chemical reactions between Mars' carbon dioxide atmosphere and water, most of its carbon dioxide was used up forming carbonate rocks. Earth is big enough and active enough that it has plate tectonics which recycles this carbonate back to carbon dioxide. Mars is too small (10 times less massive than the earth) and does not have any recycling of its carbonate. So now the Mars atmosphere is very thin, the temperature is very cold, and what water remains is either frozen in the Martian poles as permafrost or hidden in deep underground springs. Mars' current climate changes drastically during the year. It has seasons similar to the Earth's due the tilt of its axis. But because its orbit around the Sun is elliptical; the distance from the Sun varies about by 20% depending on where it is in its annual orbit. The seasons in one hemisphere (South) are more extreme while in the other (north) they are less extreme.
The end of the space shuttle program does not mean the end of NASA, or even of NASA sending humans into space. NASA has a robust program of exploration, technology development and scientific research that will last for years to come. Here is what's next for NASA:
NASA is designing and building the capabilities to send humans to explore the solar system, working toward a goal of landing humans on Mars.
The International Space Station is fully staffed with a crew of six, and American astronauts will continue to live and work there in space 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Part of the U.S. portion of the station has been designated as a national laboratory, and NASA is committed to using this unique resource for scientific research.
Commercial companies are well on their way to providing cargo and crew flights to the ISS, allowing NASA to focus its attention on the next steps into our solar system.
NASA is researching ways to design and build aircraft that are safer, more fuel-efficient, quieter, and environmentally responsible. NASA is also part of the government team that is working to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, to be in place by the year 2025.
NASA is conducting an unprecedented array of science missions that will seek new knowledge and understanding of Earth, the solar system and the universe.
FROM - http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/planetary/mar…
Mars Climate:
Scientists think that the climate on Mars 3.5 billion years ago was similar to that of early Earth: warm and wet. But because of chemical reactions between Mars' carbon dioxide atmosphere and water, most of its carbon dioxide was used up forming carbonate rocks. Earth is big enough and active enough that it has plate tectonics which recycles this carbonate back to carbon dioxide. Mars is too small (10 times less massive than the earth) and does not have any recycling of its carbonate. So now the Mars atmosphere is very thin, the temperature is very cold, and what water remains is either frozen in the Martian poles as permafrost or hidden in deep underground springs. Mars' current climate changes drastically during the year. It has seasons similar to the Earth's due the tilt of its axis. But because its orbit around the Sun is elliptical; the distance from the Sun varies about by 20% depending on where it is in its annual orbit. The seasons in one hemisphere (South) are more extreme while in the other (north) they are less extreme.
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