With just one flight of the space shuttle left, what’s next? You can see Richard Branson‘s SpaceShipOne in the infographic, giving us a look forward at what’s waiting in the wings — vessels that might find a different financial route to space, relying on private funding rather than governmental largess.
All is not lost, though, for the U.S. manned space program. Even though NASA‘s Ares launch vehicles and their associated Constellation program were canceled because of budget constraints, NASA selected SpaceX and its Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon spacecraft for the space agency’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.
SpaceX successfully test flew its Falcon 9 launch vehicle with an unmanned Dragon spacecraft along for the ride last December, and just last week introduced its newest heavy-lift rocket, the massive 27-engine Falcon Heavy that’s the biggest rocket since the Saturn V. SpaceX says that monster will fly in 2013.
What you think of human space travel? Before we go to the infographic, let’s vote on it:
Is human space travel worth it?online survey
Your opinion not listed in our poll? Tell us about it in the comments.
Infographic courtesy SPACE.com
More About: 50 years, infographic, NASA, space, SpaceX
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