The Future of NASA

      One hundred years from now, NASA's space program will not be so far

advanced that people will be able to beam around the Universe or travel through

time.  However, unless something goes terribly wrong with the world, it is

expected to advance tremendously.  New, high-tech designs for rockets will

make them more environmentally safe.  Rockets will also be recycled and

reused.  Systems retrieving parts of rockets that are today, left behind in space,

will be created.  Astronauts will be well on their way to exploring Mars from a

hands-on perspective.  Because of the overpopulated Earth, scientists may even

be considering ways to alter life on Mars, so that people would be able to live

there some day.

      Some products developed in NASA's space program that we now

incorporate in our daily lives include the vacuum cleaner, pacemaker, pens that

can write upside-down, and the zero-gravity training system.  The vacuum

cleaner was originally a great tool for astronauts in outer space.  It is now a very

helpful tool for cleaning our homes.  The pacemaker is a form of life-support on

spacecrafts, helping astronomers' hearts pump while they are outside of the

Earth's atmosphere.  It is used, on Earth, for those who's hearts have problems

with pumping blood.  Pens that write upside-down are used in space, where

there is no gravity and writing with pens would otherwise be impossible.  They

are convenient tools on Earth when we are trying to write on vertical surfaces.  A

zero-gravity training system is used to help astronauts become more comfortable

with the conditions in space.  It is used in places such as Sportsland, for kids to

twirl around in.

      In the future, telephones with picture screens, much like those used to

see astronauts in space with, will become common on Earth.  Rooms with no

gravity may become a part of amusement parks.  More solar-powered energy

sources will also be available.  Space Internet may be created, so that

astronomers and anyone else that happens to be in space can upload pictures

and chat with the rest of the world while they are actually in outer space.  In

general, there is a bright future in store for NASA, with new and advanced

technology waiting around the bend of the twenty-first century.