Astronauts digging into an asteroid for samples to send back to Earth. Experimental robots on the moon, paving the way for extraterrestrial refuelling stations and for astronauts "living off the land". Commercial space taxis ferrying crew members to and from the International Space Station, while a "plasma thruster" -a precursor to engines that will eventually send astronauts to Mars - undergoes tests in space.rnAll this could be happening a decade from now, following a change of direction for NASA signalled by the White House last week. The Obama administration has said it wants NASA to scrap the Constellation programme, which would have taken astronauts to the moon and Mars. The decision could mark one of the most significant shifts since the agency was set up in 1958.
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