NASA’s Top Exploration and Discovery Stories of the Year

NASA moved forward in 2006 to extend humanity’s exploration of the solar system and learn more about the universe and our home planet. The space shuttle got back to work building the International Space Station, and the agency began developing the next generation of spacecraft and outlined plans for returning to the moon as a stepping stone toward Mars. Space science missions found new evidence of water on Mars, sent the first-ever probes toward Pluto, brought back dust from a comet and launched new instruments to study the sun and the weather on Earth.

Next Stop - The Moon: America’s Vision for Space Exploration, the long-term plan for sending humans to Mars and beyond, moved ahead in August with the selection of Lockheed Martin Corp. as the prime contractor to build the Orion crew exploration vehicle, to be operational by 2014. Orion and its astronaut crew will be propelled into space by the new Ares I launch vehicle. Larger equipment bound for the moon and Mars will ride into space atop the Ares V heavy launch vehicle.

The Ares I successfully completed its systems requirement review during the fall of 2006. The next generation launch vehicles will be based on advanced versions of technology from the Apollo and shuttle programs but also will employ newly developed systems and hardware with far greater capabilities. In December, NASA unveiled elements of a Global Exploration Strategy and lunar architecture to explain the rationale for returning to the moon for further exploration and to help prepare for later journeys to Mars and other destinations.

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