https://pjmedia.com/tatler/2011/07/08/on-the-past-and-future-of-nasa/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 08:28:46 -0400<![CDATA[For every failure in the space program, there have probably been a dozen successes. Some Mars orbiters had issues, but several have been on orbit now for years, returning some incredible information and imagery. The Mars Rovers were only supposed to last about 90 days on the surface of the red planet; they actually lasted more than 6 years. Hubble launched with flawed optics, but it was still the clearest view we had ever had of deep space &#8212; even with the flawed mirror. And thanks to the space shuttle program, its astronauts, its training regimen and the many support engineers, techs and others on the ground, Hubble was upgraded several times on orbit, always extending and improving its view. Hubble recently passed a milestone &#8212; its millionth image. It was originally slated to operate for 10 years; Hubble has now been exploring the universe for 21 years. NASA even launched the Deep Impact mission a few years back, which successfully slammed into a comet while its own mother ship and Hubble observed the resulting plume to determine what comets are made of. Deep Impact amounted to hitting one bullet with a smaller bullet across the vastness of space, but the team pulled it off. Cool stuff, and all in the post-Apollo era. From Cassini to Voyager to the Chandra and Spitzer telescopes, NASA&#8217;s successful mission portfolio is astounding. And the technology developed first for space and then applied across nearly every aspect of modern life is unmatched.]]>Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:15:03 -0400<![CDATA[Bryan Preston]]>https://pjmedia.com/bryan-preston-1/2011/07/08/on-the-past-and-future-of-nasa-n150055