What should nasa do next

Starship may eventually ferry people to Mars for permanent habitation. The company is also deploying a massive constellation of small satellites called Starlink intended to provide global high-speed internet access. The satellites, which number around one thousand at present, have sparked controversy because of concerns they might create light pollution and interfere with astronomical research. NASA is a taxpayer-funded U. It reports to the executive branch and the president appoints its administrator.

For much of the public, the most visible of these programs is the International Space Station , a permanently crewed, multinational space laboratory in low-Earth orbit. About a third of NASA's budget goes to its science division, which includes planetary science, Earth science, astrophysics, and heliophysics. NASA also conducts aerospace research and funds various space technology development efforts.

Studies show the agency provides the U. SpaceX is a for-profit company, whereas NASA is a taxpayer-funded entity free to pursue scientific discoveries that are not directly linked to financial gain. In , President George W. Bush announced a plan to retire the Space Shuttles and return humans to the surface of the Moon. Orion and SLS are built by aerospace companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing, which in turn use their own private suppliers and subcontractors.

The programs generate tens of thousands of well-paying jobs in locations where they are built, and therefore enjoy strong political support from their local Congressional representatives.

SLS and Orion are both behind schedule and over budget. Meanwhile, SpaceX has grown from a small startup into a legitimate competitor of traditional aerospace companies. Nobody has yet mapped the ice on the moon's south pole, where NASA wants to set up its astronauts' base. If successful, the machine would be the first to ever land on the moon's south pole without crashing.

The next moon mission will test deep-space exploration systems, which NASA hopes will carry humans on to Mars. NASA is already designing future astronauts' gear. They're sending spacesuit material on the Mars rover to test how it holds up in the planet's harsh atmosphere. Astronauts traveling to Mars would have to spend about three years away from Earth. They would probably need to use resources from the lunar and Martian surfaces in the meantime.

A deep-space habitat competition this year yielded a 3D-printable pod that could be constructed using materials found on Mars. A mysterious swarm of Trojan asteroids — the term for space rocks that follow planets — trail Jupiter's orbit around the sun.

NASA's Lucy mission plans to visit six of them. What we do know is that the objects are as old as the sun, so they can serve as a kind of fossil record of the solar system. When Galileo Galilei first looked at Jupiter through his homemade telescope in , he spotted four moons circling the planet.

Just over years later, NASA's Galileo mission found evidence that one of those moons, Europa, conceals a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. NASA is planning to visit that ocean with the Europa Clipper, a spacecraft that will fly by the moon 45 times, getting as close as 16 miles above the moon's surface.

Clipper plans to fly through water vapor plumes that shoot out from Europa's surface as seen in the NASA visual above to analyze what might be in the ocean. Radar tools should also measure the thickness of the ice and scan for subsurface water.

The future lander would search for signs of life in the ocean, digging 4 inches below the surface to extract samples for analysis in a mini, on-the-go laboratory. Titan is a world with water ice, liquid methane pools, and a thick nitrogen atmosphere. It somewhat resembles early Earth, since it has carbon-rich organic materials like methane and ethane.

Scientists suspect that an ocean of liquid water might lurk 60 miles below the ice. Instead, Dragonfly will propel itself using the heat of decaying plutonium. Planned launch: Most of the asteroids in our solar system are made of rock or ice, but Psyche is composed of iron and nickel. That's similar to the makeup of Earth's core, so scientists think Psyche could be a remnant of an early planet that was decimated by violent collisions billions of years ago.

NASA is sending a probe to find out. If Psyche really is the exposed core of a dead planet, it could reveal clues about the solar system's early years. The probe would be the first spacecraft to use light, rather than radio waves, to transmit information back to Earth. NASA gave the team the green light to start the final design and early assembly process in June Such satellites have already been built and sent to space by an elementary school, a high school, and the Salish Kootenai College of the Flathead Reservation in Montana.

They successfully sent data from the InSight lander back to Earth as it landed on the Martian surface. It's expected to launch in November. Another CubeSat mission, also set to launch this year, will fly past an asteroid near Earth — the first exploration of an asteroid less than meters in diameter.

The data the satellite sends back could help scientists plan for future human missions to asteroids, where astronauts might mine resources as they explore deep space.

Planned launch and arrival: Part of the problem is that we can't see it because it doesn't interact with light. Dark energy is winning, and that's why the universe is expanding. As Euclid orbits Earth, the space telescope will measure the universe's expansion and attempt to map the mysterious geometry of dark matter and energy.

It's been almost 30 years since the Hubble Space Telescope launched. The JWST is its planned replacement, and it packs new infrared technology to detect light beyond what the human eye can see.

When Galileo Galilei first looked at Jupiter through his homemade telescope in , he spotted four Moons circling the planet. Nearly years later, NASA's Galileo mission found evidence that one of those Moons, Europa, conceals a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust.

NASA is planning to visit that ocean with the Europa Clipper, a spacecraft that will fly by the Moon 45 times, getting as close at 16 miles above the Moon's surface. Clipper will fly through water vapour plumes that shoot out from Europa's surface as seen in the NASA visual above to analyse what might be in the ocean.

Radar tools will also measure the thickness of the ice and scan for subsurface water. Southwest Research Institute. The future lander would search for signs of life in the ocean, digging 4 inches below the surface to extract samples for analysis in a mini, on-the-go laboratory.

Potential future mission to land a robotic probe on Europa. Titan is a world with ice, liquid methane pools, and a thick nitrogen atmosphere. It somewhat resembles early Earth, since it has carbon-rich organic materials like methane and ethane.

Scientists suspect that an ocean of liquid water might lurk 60 miles below the ice. But getting to the distant, cold Moon is not easy — Saturn only gets about 1 percent of the sunlight that bathes Earth, so a spacecraft can't rely on solar energy. Instead, Dragonfly will propel itself using the heat of decaying plutonium. Dragonfly visiting sampling location on Titan. Most of the asteroids in our Solar System are made of rock or ice, but Psyche is composed of iron and nickel.

That's similar to the makeup of Earth's core, so scientists think Psyche could be a remnant of an early planet that was decimated by violent collisions billions of years ago. NASA is sending a probe to find out. If Psyche really is the exposed core of a dead planet, it could reveal clues about the Solar System's early years.

The probe NASA plans to send to Psyche would be the first spacecraft to use light, rather than radio waves, to transmit information back to Earth.

The agency gave the team the green light to start the final design and early assembly process in June. Such satellites have already been built and sent to space by an elementary school, a high school, and the Salish Kootenai College of the Flathead Reservation in Montana.

They successfully sent data from the InSight lander back to Earth as it landed on the Martian surface. One planned mission using the nanotechnology will use lasers to search for ice on the Moon's shadowy south pole.

It's expected to launch in November Another CubeSat mission, also set to launch in , will fly past an asteroid near Earth and send back data.