They need to retire the Shuttle. It's amazing work they do, but it's just too complex and expensive. It's holding us back.
NASA realizes this, but of course, like any government agency, it's about 10 years too late.
The CXV (Crew Exploration Vehicle) concepts look promising, especially the ones from the joint venture that Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites is participating in.
As romantic as it first appeared the Swiss Army Knife approach to space travel does not work well. Until the final landing, the wings, tail, thermal tiles etc. of the Shuttle are just dead weight, and are bait for any number of potentially catastrophic failures. At least in terms of getting off the ground, and back down to it, that's where 90% of all the energy and danger are. NASA just needs a safe, simple little "grocery getter" to put people into space, and a separate unmanned heavy-lift cargo hauler, where they can take risks and cut corners if need be.