An old man dies. A young woman lives. A fair trade.
- John Hartigan, Sin City.

30 years old space shuttle mission has come to an end. It has allowed to write a next chapter in Space exploration in the form of Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEO) which combines departments under Space Operations and Exploration Systems of NASA.

Although many were sad about the demise of space shuttle program, it was a perfect time for its end. It frees resources and assets for next step in space research, because private industries are showing interest in low-Earth orbit missions. Now more efforts are needed for missions beyond these orbits. This new HEO Mission directorate will do the same in near future. And it is great to see that NASA is not alone. Europeans, Chinese, Russians and even Indians are showing keen interest in deep space explorations.

We didn’t manage to see the future forecasted by Arthur C. Clarke in his epic novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey. But we are definitely not that far. Old man (Space Shuttle) had to die to let young lady (Deep Space Vehicle) live.

Source: NASA Reshuffles to Prepare for the Next Chapter in Space Exploration | News & Opinion | PCMag.com.

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