NASA Without Clear Goals = ?

As NASA prepares to retire its final shuttle, agency leaders face an uncertain future, nextgov
“NASA’s 2012 budget calls for money to invest in flight systems that would take humans beyond low-Earth orbit, including a deep space capsule and heavy lift rocket, and research to enable the long journeys. But near-term goals are scant in the budget request. Obama is recommending a slight increase for exploration, but much of it is slated to go toward partnerships with the commercial space industry to get cargo and crew to the international space station–part of the president’s controversial push to privatize more of NASA’s work.”