End Of The Shuttle Program, Advances In Commercial Space
Efforts Highlight The Year
This year saw the beginning of the passing of the low-orbit
manned space program from NASA to commercial space companies
... though not everyone thought that was such a
great idea. The venerable space shuttle saw its final
flight, and there were many advancements towards the eventual
replacement of that transportation system with one run by
for-profit companies. In the meantime, NASA continued its research
into launch systems and crew modules for future deep-space
missions, leaving the Russian Soyuz system as the only means of
transport between Earth and the ISS.