after Atlantis and then it wi? After Atlantis it will be up to private endevors for space travel. I remember in the 80s NASA was the bomb! Now there isn't as much interest. My questions1)why did we start the space program wasn't it because of military issues during the cold war? 2) isn't military issues still important ie. Spying and such do we really want north Korea to put some intelligence up there to put us at risk3) who will regulate space missions- will NASA still monitor things but not pay for it