With the end of the U.S. Space Shuttle program this summer, there's been a lot of talk about the future of manned space exploration. As the name shuttle would suggest, the Space Shuttle program was supposed to mark the beginning of space missions that were more regular and less expensive, an opportunity for both scientific and commercial space travel. But now that the program has ended, we've lost what has been, arguably, one of the more glamorous occupations that could entice students into thinking about a future career in space exploration: the job of space shuttle astronaut.

But as Spacehack's Ariel Waldman is quick to point out, we might be placing too much emphasis on the astronaut when we think about the possibilities of exploring space. After all, after 50 some-odd years of space missions, humans have only sent 500 people into space.

Read the rest of my post, "Space Exploration is Not Just for Astronauts" on Mindshift