Good news. While I'm skeptical of the utility of manned missions to Mars or to the asteroids as anything beyond massive performance arts projects (deep space is for robots, at least for the next few centuries), we ought to be getting all over life in orbit.
Obama Administration Extends International Space Station Until at Least 2024 | NASA Administrator
The extension of ISS operation will allow NASA and the international space community to accomplish a number of important goals.
First, it will allow NASA to complete necessary research activities aboard the ISS in support of planned long-duration human missions beyond low-Earth orbit—including our planned human mission to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s. NASA has determined that research on ISS is necessary to mitigate fully 21 of the 32 human-health risks anticipated on long-duration missions. A related critical function of ISS is testing the technologies and spacecraft systems necessary for humans to safely and productively operate in deep space. Extending ISS until 2024 will give us the necessary time to bring these systems to maturity.