2011 marked the end of NASA's shuttle program, while China bounded ahead.
As the retired spacecrafts are moved to museums, America is looking towards the future of manned space travel, in both the public and private sectors.
But listen to the world's first moonwalker, Neil Armstrong, and you'd be forgiven for thinking the future for space travel - at least US government-funded space travel, was not too bright at all.
"Embarrassing and Unacceptable," Armstrong said. "On a path of decay," fellow ex-astronaut Eugene Cernan chimed in.
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CNN reports on plans for the future.
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