Ten years ago on Dec. 4, NASA and its partner nations began building a dream: the International Space Station. On that date, space shuttle Endeavour lifted off on its 12-day mission to deliver NASAs Unity module and connect it to Russias Zarya control module already orbiting Earth.
NASA's future space exploration is a return to the moon, where we will build a sustainable long term human presence. America will send a new generation of explorers to the moon aboard NASAs Orion crew exploration vehicle. Making its first flights to the International Space Station early in the next decade, Orion is part of the Constellation Program to send human explorers back to the moon, and then onward to Mars and other destinations in the solar system.