Sure, the next manned NASA missions won't launch for years, but if you win the lottery, your dreams of becoming an astronaut without all that pesky training could come true. Virgin Group billionaire/ unintentional Ted DiBiase impersonator Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is sending people to space, and Branson's second model and launch craft have already been tested. If all goes according to Branson's master plan, Virgin Galactic's two pilots and six passengers will gaze upon the arc of the Earth from more than 62 miles into the atmosphere, with Virgin spaceports dotting the entire globe. If you want to buy a ticket -- and happen to have $200,000 on hand -- get in line. More than 500 of the world's top scientific minds (such as Ashton Kutcher) have plunked down the $20,000 deposit for this space ride. At least Stephen Hawking's been offered his ride gratis. ↓ Continue Reading Below Advertisement

2 Landing on a Comet as It Screams Through the Universe Landing on a Comet as It Screams Through the Universe NASA While NASA was busy sending robots to Mars, the European Space Agency was working on its Rosetta project, which presumably operated under the mission statement "Screw Mars! Let's put robots on comets!" ↓ Continue Reading Below Advertisement Rosetta is currently on an unprecedented mission to the absolutely-nightmarish-to-pronounce comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkoand. And when Rosetta arrives in late 2014, it's going to enter the comet's orbit and launch a probe onto the surface. This type of close study will tell us a lot about the universe's formation, as comets are the ancient remnants of that process. Yes, comets are exactly like Tyrannosaurus fossils, if petrified Tyrannosaurus skulls hurtled through the unfathomable darkness of space at terrifying speeds.