Behold, the new frontier now shuttle days are over

NASA's new goal - visit and return from an asteroid - Time frame: 15 years

Houston - Landing on an asteroid is difficult because you'd bounce off — it has virtually no gravity. A NASA spacecraft might have to harpoon it. Even then, astronauts could not walk on it because they'd float away.

We are talking jetpacks, tethers, bungees, nets and spiderwebs, here. This way, explorers could float just above the surface of it while attached to a smaller mini-spaceship.

The mother ship? Oh, well, now, that would require solar panels the size of football fields...