The shuttle program officially ended this morning around 6am EDT as Atlantis safely landed back on Earth at Kennedy Space Center. Many people seem to think that the end of the shuttle missions means the end of NASA. This is by no means true! Just because we aren't sending astronauts into space doesn't mean our space program is shutting down! NASA is hard at work developing new technology for future manned space missions, and is planning many robotic missions for the near future. Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra are still operational and providing astronomers with gorgeous views of space objects. As long as funding continues, JWST will be launched in the upcoming years giving astronomers huge amounts of data to work with. So much is left to be learned about our own solar system and NASA is working on many orbiters, landers, and rovers will be launched to planets and moons in our solar system.
It's sad to see the shuttle program go, but we can still do great science without sending man into space. In fact it's often easier and more beneficial to send a satellite or robot rather than a person into outer space. To learn more about what's next for NASA, check out this excellent article: http://www.nasa.gov/about/whats_next.html
