How NASA plans to top the Mars Curiosity voyage

The rover's near-miraculous mission has rekindled excitement about the space program. Here's where we might be going next

Members of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The stunning landing of the Mars rover Curiosity and the images it beamed home have renewed public fascination with the U.S. space program. President Obama even put in a personal call to the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., telling the Mars team that their achievements were "mind-boggling," and encouraging them to "keep up the good work." Now that the venerable space agency — which disappeared from the headlines after the retirement of its space shuttles last year — has our attention again, what is it planning for an encore? Here, a brief guide to what it has in the pipeline:

What is NASA's next big mission?

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