Starting in the late 1970s, the unmanned Voyager series flew past Jupiter and Saturn and headed for other planets. The Hubble Space Telescope has already transmitted pictures of space that astronomers say substantially increase their knowledge of the universe. In 1997, a Pathfinder spacecraft released Sojourner, a small robotic rover, on Mars to transmit full-color images back to Earth. Scientists are still analyzing the thousands of photos received. And plans are in place for another Mars project, one that will collect and return soil samples to Earth.
Probes are to be sent to comets and asteroids.
And with a renewed spirit of pragmatism, NASA is working on new satellites that measure rainfall and atmospheric gases on Earth. NASA officials also plan more shuttle missions and continued work on the International Space Station. These potential disasters have been the subject of several recent movies, including last summer's blockbuster Armageddon, which painted the space agency in a very favorable light. NASA cooperated extensively with that film's producers, allowing them to film a shuttle launch and even hosting the movie premiere party at the Kennedy Space Center. Voss senses that public support is building again.