Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics - "Discoveries" and Future Prospects

Collisions of ultra-relativistic heavy nuclei at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the U.S. create energy densities where nuclear matter melts into a plasma of quarks and gluons. I will summarize the accomplishments of the ultra-relativistic heavy-ion program and present the "big questions" remaining to be answered. In the process I will elucidate how the answers are being pursued and our current understanding of the high density QCD matter created in these collisions. I will offer a brief perspective on the planned detector upgrades, the presently envisioned future experiments and collider facilities, and how they intend to address the remaining questions of the field. (paper)