The coolest NASA missions happening right now - and the most exciting ones yet to launch

On July 20, 1969, two Americans did something extraordinary: They climbed out of a precarious spacecraft and onto the surface of the moon.

We hairless apes, gifted with powerful brains and wanderlust through chance (or fate, depending on who you ask), had figured out how to safely launch three humans into the heavens atop a shining tower of explosives.

The first two planted a flag, gathered some samples, gazed at the view, took a phone call with Richard Nixon, met up with the third guy, and then headed back home. In the next three years, 10 more set foot on the moon and since then, humans haven't gone past low-Earth orbit.

But that's not where humanity's romance with space ended. We've been shooting things up to the stars ever since - and it hasn't just been global positioning satellites and space shuttles.

Here are the coolest missions NASA has going on right now, including a few exciting spacecraft to come.