Is the American Space Program Coming to an End?

"Is the American Space Program Coming to an End?"," The governments were racing to be the first in space in this way or that, which led to the funding needed to do things like walk on the moon and send probes around our solar system.


I'll start off by mentioning that I am a science fiction fan and huge proponent of space exploration.
 The question these days is whether the space program as we know it is going to exist in another decade or two.


The problem is economics.
 The cost of Medicare, Social Security and just paying the interest on our national debt is estimated to be as much as 80 percent of our total yearly budget by 2020.
 Well, you'll notice that the cost of the military was not mentioned above.


We are already seeing cost shortfalls having an impact in the near term.
 The truth of the matter is there really isn't any funding available to do it in the current economic environment.
9 trillion dollar deficit each year, the idea of setting aside money to go back to the moon is not exactly going to get a lot of play.


So, will humanity ever expand upon its efforts to explore the universe around us? It seems that there are really only two options.
 Until either group appears, the idea of space exploration is going to take a back seat compared to the focus on paying our bills.