The immediate future: 2012-2020

In the earlier edition of this log, the closing chapter outlined “The Next Steps”, which were quite clear at the time of writing in 2006. They mainly featured the completion of the International Space Station and the retirement of the American Space Shuttle. Originally planned for 2010, the final flights of the Shuttle stretched into 2011 and included not only the final station assembly missions, but also the reinstated fourth Hubble Telescope servicing mission. The book also forecast the first Chinese EVA and the launch of a small Salyut-class space station module.

As we write the closing lines of this edition of the Manned Spaceflight Log, the Shuttle has retired after 135 missions, the majority of the ISS assembly is complete, and the station has now become an orbital research facility. The Hubble Space Telescope has been visited and upgraded once again, and the Chinese also delivered on their announced plans for EVA capability and a small space station.

Now that these goals have been met, what are the most likely plans for manned space flight for the rest of this sixth decade of operations and what will those missions establish to move forward in the coming decades?

D. J. Shayler and M. D. Shayler, Manned Spaceflight LogII—2006—2012, Springer Praxis Books 158, DOl 10.1007/978-1-4614-4577-7_5, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013