NASA продлило миссию New Horizons! Если им самим выделят в бюджете деньги.

“The New Horizons mission to Pluto exceeded our expectations and even today the data from the spacecraft continue to surprise,” said NASA’s Director of Planetary Science Jim Green. “We’re excited to continue onward into the dark depths of the outer solar system to a science target that wasn’t even discovered when the spacecraft launched.”

также продлили миссию Dawn. Там в баках еще осталась горючка, ходили слухи, что его хотят отправить к третьему астероиду, но NASA решило не рисковать. мол, продолжение изучения Цереры интереснее пролета.

Green noted that NASA relies on the scientific assessment by the Senior Review Panel in making its decision on which extended mission option to approve. “The long-term monitoring of Ceres, particularly as it gets closer to perihelion – the part of its orbit with the shortest distance to the sun -- has the potential to provide more significant science discoveries than a flyby of Adeona,” he said.