NASA Space Tech, Science & Exploration Goals in 2015 in Pictures (Gallery)

Education - NASA's 2015 Budget Proposal

While reaching for new heights in space, we’re creating new jobs right here on Earth – especially for the next generation of American scientists and engineers. Here, Leland Melvin, former NASA associate administrator for education and former astronaut, gives a thumbs up to International Space Station (ISS) crew members, Rick Mastracchio, screen left, and Michael Hopkins, during a live downlink at an event where they and eight astronaut candidates talked with Washington-area students and the public about the value of education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014 at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Image released March 4, 2014.

Building Blocks to Mars - NASA's 2015 Budget Proposal

NASA's building blocks for a mission to Mars encompass a series of missions that will expand U.S. space capabilities to the point where humans can safely travel to the Red Planet. Today, NASA is working with commercial partners to obtain affordable access to low Earth orbit from U.S. companies and learning the fundamentals of living and working in space about the International Space Station. NASA will begin travelling beyond Earth orbit in September 2014 with the first flight of the Orion spacecraft, then in a few years redirect an asteroid to high lunar orbit for scientific studies. Earth independent missions, such as flying humans to Mars, are expected in the 2030s. Image released March 4, 2014.