The Pathetic Decline of NASA !

After 50 years of BIG successes (like Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, ISS, Hubble, Cassini, Spirit, Opportunity, etc.) and some mistakes (like X-33, DC-X, HL-20, ESAS plan, 5-segments SRB, Ares-1, etc.) NASA is now close to retire its last giant vehicle this year with the final four Shuttle missions... then, thanks to a new "commercial space" plan, in the next five years, the glorious american space agency will enter a long and pathetic decline, that, in 2016 (+ delays) after burning over $10 billion (+ costs overruns) in "new.space" contracts... will finally give it (if lucky and everything goes well) an amazing, incredible, fantastic, smaller-than-Soyuz Pepsi-sized capsule able to send seven unlucky astronauts (compressed like sardines and with few days of life support) to the ISS, where a robot arm "should" help it dock... a "bright" future clearly shown in this animation...   Credit: ghostnasa