Credit: NASAWith the International Space Station nearing its planned retirement date at the end of the decade, NASA is turning to the orbital space station whiteboard. On Friday, it released a draft proposal seeking commercial partners for future manned stations. The idea is for NASA to support these commercial ventures, with any such stations required to provide everything a four-person crew might need for one-month stays. The new announcement for partnership proposal, or AFPP, is the next step in that venture, with NASA now seeking comments on its draft, including proposals for potential manned space stations NASA can help to build and maintain moving forward. It then expects to receive all potential proposals by a cut-off date of Dec. 1.