La NASA tiene una excitante nueva visin del futuro de los vuelos espaciales, el regreso de los

humanos a la luna para el 2020 como preparacin de visitas a Marte y puede que ms lejos.
Las misiones a la luna son esenciales para la exploracin de mundos ms lejanos. Las estancias
prolongadas en la luna aportan la experiencia y conocimientos necesarios para las misiones espaciales
de larga duracin requeridas para visitar otros planetas. La luna tambin puede usarse como una base
de operaciones avanzada en la que los humanos aprendamos a reponer suministros esenciales, como
el propergol y el oxgeno, crendolos a partir de material local.
Dichos conocimientos son vitales para la futura expansin de la presencia humana en el espacio
exterior.
El Programa Constelacin tambin tiene objetivos cientficos a corto plazo. Aunque los humanos ya
hemos visitado antes la luna, nuestra vecina ms cercana an alberga sus propios misterios cientficos
por explorar -incluida la investigacin del agua helada cerca de los polos lunares.
Las futuras misiones humanas a la luna irn precedidas de lanzamientos de reconocimiento robticos,
entre 2008 y 2011, para identificar lugares de alunizaje que puedan proporcionar abundantes recursos
para los astronautas. El polo sur lunar se considera particularmente prometedor porque es rico en
hidrgeno y tambin puede contener agua helada.
Una nueva nave espacial
Estas nuevas misiones de la NASA estn encabezadas por el desarrollo de una nueva nave espacial
vanguardista -pero con un aire retro.
El Vehculo de exploracin tripulado Orin recuerda al diseo de las misiones Apollo originales pero
actualiza sus sistemas con tecnologa moderna. Las nuevas cpsulas sern ms grandes, con tres
veces ms capacidad de carga y la posibilidad de alojar una tripulacin de cuatro personas. El nuevo
tamao ha llevado a los oficiales de la NASA a describir la misin como un "Apollo que toma
esteroides".
La nueva cpsula Orin, que se lanza acoplada a un slido propulsor de cohetes y una fase superior
similar a la del Apollo, se considera un diseo ms fiable y seguro para la futura exploracin del espacio
que el ahora familiar transbordador espacial.
Una vez en el espacio, los flexibles vehculos Orin llevarn y traern los astronautas a la Estacin
Espacial Internacional. Tambin entrarn en la rbita lunar, una ubicacin desde la cual las sondas
pueden visitar repetidamente la superficie.
Las cpsulas Orin, que se pueden reutilizar hasta diez veces, sern lanzadas en paracadas a la Tierra
como antiguamente -aunque se posarn sobre tierra firme en lugar de amerizar en el ocano.
En lo aos posteriores a 2020, estas naves espaciales podrn ayudar a ensamblar en rbita vehculos
dirigidos a Marte para llevar a los primeros humanos al planeta rojo.

Orbital Technologies' Space Hotel

Of course, you'll need somewhere to put your bags once you're in space.
Orbital Technologies, a Russian company, is building a space hotelwhere 7
guests will be able to dine on veal cheeks and wild mushrooms at 217 miles
above the earth. The company is planning to open the hotel in
2016. According to Reuters, a five-day stay will set you back a cool $1
million.
Space Adventures/Armadillo Aerospace
Space Adventures, a company that has sent seven private citizens to the
International Space Station, announced in 2010 that it would partner with
Armadillo Aerospace to provide suborbital spaceflights. The two-passenger
rocket will land and take-off vertically and allow for a 360-degree view of the
earth below. According to Jaunted, the rocket will travel 62 miles above the
earth.Engadget reports that a flight to space will set you back $102,000.
Blue Origin
Blue Origin, the notoriously-secretive company underwritten by
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is developing both orbital and sub-orbital
launch vehicles to take people into space. The company recently released
video of a test of its New Shepard rocket, a three-person capsule and launch
vehicle that the company is planning to use to take space tourists "to the
edge of space." The cost and timeline of the completion of the New Shepard
is unclear. In April, Blue Origin was awarded $22 million from NASA "to
advance commercial crew space transportation system concepts and
mature the design and development of elements of their systems, such as
launch vehicles and spacecraft."
SpaceX
In December 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to have a
spacecraft re-enter orbit, when its Dragon spacecraft orbited earth twice
and then landed in the Pacific Ocean. Next stop? The International Space
Station. A representative from SpaceX told HuffPost that a Dragon capsule
carrying supplies to the ISS will launch in early 2012. It will be the first
commercial company to berth a spacecraft with the space station. But
you're going to have to be a NASA astronaut to hitch a ride to space with
SpaceX, as the company doesn't have any plans in the near future for space
tourism.
Virgin Galactic
Over 450 "astronauts" have already booked a $200,000 spot on Sir Richard
Branson's SpaceShipTwo, a craft that will take passengers to an altitude of
110 km (68.3 miles). Branson hopes to begin commercial flights in 2013, but
that date could get pushed back. "We want to be sure we've really tested
the craft through and through before turning it over to the astronauts who
bought tickets to go up," he said in October,according to the Associated
Press. "If it takes a bit longer, we'll take a little bit longer." Passengers will

experience about five minutes of weighlessness during the 2 1/2 hour suborbital spaceflight.
NASA
NASA announced in September that it's developing the Space Launch
System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will one day take humans farther than
ever before. The 34-story rocket will carry six astronauts aboard the Orion
Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. According to PC Mag, NASA will spend $18
billion over the next five years developing the SLS. With the retirement of
the space shuttle program, NASA currently pays Russia around $60 million
per person to get American astronauts into space. Remember, there's still
time to apply to be an astronaut.
Bloon - Zero2Infinity's Balloon
The bloon, a helium-filled balloon, will take a capsule with as many as six
people to 118,000 feet -- not quite outer space, but near space. The
company expects to make its first commercial flight in 2013. The cost?
110,000, or about $147,000.
NASA has an exciting new vision of future spaceflightthe return of humans to the moon by 2020 in
preparation for visits to Mars and possibly beyond.
Moon missions are essential to the exploration of more distant worlds. Extended lunar stays build the
experience and expertise needed for the long-term space missions required to visit other planets. The
moon may also be used as a forward base of operations on which humans learn how to replenish
essential supplies, such as rocket fuel and oxygen, by creating them from local material.
Such skills are essential to the future expansion of human presence into deeper space.
The Constellation Program has near-term scientific objectives as well. Although humans have visited the
moon before, our closest neighbor still harbors its own scientific mysteries to be exploredincluding the
investigation of water ice near the moon's poles.
Future human moon missions will be preceded by robotic reconnaissance launches, between 2008 and
2011, to scout landing sites that may have the most resources available to astronauts. The moon's south
pole is considered particularly promising because it is rich in hydrogen and may be home to water ice as
well.
A New Spacecraft
These new NASA missions are being spearheaded by the development of a state-of-the-art new
spacecraftbut one with a retro feel.
The Orion crew exploration vehicle echoes the design of the original Apollo missions but updates its
systems with modern technology. The new capsules will also be larger, with three times the volume
capacity and the ability to accommodate a four-person crew. The new size has led NASA officials to
describe the mission as "Apollo on steroids."
The Orion capsule, which launches attached to a solid rocket booster and Apollo-like upper stage, is seen
as a safer and more reliable design for future space exploration than the now-familiar space shuttle.

Once in space the flexible Orion vehicles will take astronauts to and from theInternational Space Station.
They will also enter lunar orbit, a position from which landers can repeatedly visit the moon's surface.
The Orion capsules, which may be reused up to ten times, will parachute to Earth like those of yesterday
though they will arrive on dry land rather than via ocean splashdowns.
In the years beyond 2020, these spacecraft may aid in assembling Mars-bound vehicles in orbit to take the
first humans to the red planet.

Tener vuelos espaciales interplanetarios ser ms rpido y barato gracias a un sistema de

propulsin de plasma de alta temperatura, asegur el veterano astronauta costarricense
Franklin Chang Daz, que preside una compaa que impulsa estos pioneros motores.
Esta tecnologa, que comenz a gestarse hace treinta aos, permitir reducir la duracin de las
misiones espaciales espectacularmente, incluidas las tripuladas, asegur Chang, presidente de
la compaa aeroespacial Ad Astra Rocket.
Con los medios convencionales, un viaje a Marte durara hoy en da entre siete u ocho meses,
mientras que con el "motor de magnetoplasma de impulso especfico variable" -nombre dado al
proyecto-, que est previsto que demuestre su operatividad en 2014, el viaje se reducira a tan
slo dos meses.
Adems, utilizara menos combustible que la propulsin qumica actual y tendra ms
capacidad de carga.
Estos motores se basan en el uso de plasmas de alta temperatura guiados y acelerados por
campos magnticos: la produccin y el calentamiento de plasma son propiciados por ondas
electromagnticas, mecanismo que les otorga mayor fiabilidad y una vida til ms larga.

El programa de transbordadores de la NASA finaliza este ao, tras treinta aos de

funcionamiento, y la agencia espacial de EEUU parece centrar sus esfuerzos en misiones de
exploracin cientfica, lo que, segn Chang, propiciar que sean compaas privadas las que se
encarguen de los vuelos tripulados, "Lo importante es reducir el costo". Hay compaas que
estn desarrollando tecnologas para poder capturar el mercado del turismo espacial, que es
muy interesante", afirm el veterano astronauta, para quien se ha producido un "cambio de
paradigma" en el mbito del acceso al espacio por el hombre.
La exploracin espacial es una aventura de carcter planetario, global, que involucra a muchos
pases desarrollados, desde la UE y Estados Unidos o Japn y tambin China o India; es una
tarea internacional", seal. pesar de las incertidumbres, marcadas por la crisis financiera,
Chang, que hizo su bautizo con la NASA pocos das antes de la tragedia del transbordador
Challenger, cree que la "conquista" del espacio contina.