News Archive / Author: NASA

Formed in 1958, NASA is one of the preeminent space agencies currently in operation, is the only organization to land astronauts on the surface of the Moon, to carry out extended missions on the planet Mars and more.

Articles By NASA

• Skywalking: STS-80 Mission Highlights: Nov.–Dec. 1996

  November 19th, 2017

  KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — An early morning landing on the Space Shuttle Columbia ended a more than 17-day mission to deploy and retrieve two science satellites, one that studied stars and another that made thin film wafers. Pilot Kent Rominger recounted how impressive it was to see the trailing satellites at sunrise. “It was incredible having two satellites out there at the same time. In the morning when the Sun would rise, they were just tremendously bright stars, trailing along behind us.”

• NASA releases New Horizons flyover video

  July 15th, 2017

  Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, mission scientists have created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the many unusual features that were discovered and which have reshaped our views of the Pluto system – from a vantage point even closer than the spacecraft itself.

• NASA extends ground systems support contract at Kennedy Space Center

  August 8th, 2016

  NASA has exercised the second option to extend to Sept. 30, 2018, the period of performance of its Test and Operations Support Contract (TOSC) with Jacobs Technology Inc. of Tullahoma, Tennessee.

• Astronauts celebrate with builders topping of Crew Access Tower

  December 11th, 2015

  Four astronauts training for test flights with NASA’s Commercial Crew program joined the festivities at Space Launch Complex 41 Thursday morning as one of the highest steel beams was placed on the Crew Access Tower during a “topping off” ceremony with United Launch Alliance,

• NASA: Fourth and very very very long

  September 26th, 2015

  Ah, September. That wonderful time of year when the air becomes cooler, leaves begin to turn color, and every discussion is required by law to include football metaphors. You certainly won’t see me intentionally grounding such a great opportunity, so let’s talk about what it means to “go long” in human spaceflight.

• NASA: Just what is an SLS, anyway?

  September 23rd, 2015

  For those lucky enough to be at or near Kennedy Space Center when a Space Launch System rocket leaves Earth for the first time, it will be an unforgettable experience.

• NASA: Four lessons in four years

  September 21st, 2015

  Way back in 2011, when the world’s attention was on the end of the space shuttle program, a small group of engineers was tasked with planning what would come next. NASA revealed the answer on Sept. 14 of that year in the form of Space Launch System (SLS) – which would be the most powerful rocket in history and would allow astronauts to travel beyond Earth orbit for the first time since Apollo.

• Underground magma ocean could explain Io’s ‘misplaced’ volcanoes

  September 13th, 2015

  Tides flowing in a subsurface ocean of molten rock, or magma, could explain why Jupiter's moon Io appears to have its volcanoes in the "wrong" place. New NASA research implies that oceans beneath the crusts of tidally stressed moons may be more common and last longer than expected.

• Ceres’ bright spots seen in striking new detail

  September 11th, 2015

  NASA's Dawn probe has provided improved images of the so-called bright spots on the planet Ceres. The spacecraft has already explored the asteroid Vesta and has moved on to surveying the dwarf planet Ceres.

• Apollo astronaut shares story of NASA’s Earthrise photo

  September 9th, 2015

  On Christmas Eve, 1968, not one of the three astronauts aboard Apollo 8 was prepared for the spellbinding moment when they would first see their home planet rise from behind the desolate lunar horizon. The vision of Earth provided them with the first spot of color as they floated in the blackness of space while orbiting above the lunar surface.

• Dawn sends sharper scenes from Ceres

  August 26th, 2015

  The closest-yet views of Ceres, delivered by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, show the small world's features in unprecedented detail, including Ceres' tall, conical mountain; crater formation features and narrow, braided fractures.

• Send your name to Mars on NASA’s next Red Planet mission

  August 19th, 2015

  Mars enthusiasts around the world can participate in NASA’s journey to Mars by adding their names to a silicon microchip headed to the Red Planet aboard NASA’s InSight Mars lander, scheduled to launch next year.

• Bad weather again delays launch of Japanese cargo ship to Space Station

  August 16th, 2015

  The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has postponed the launch of its H-II Transport Vehicle (HTV)-5 to the International Space Station to 7:50 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 19. NASA Television will carry live coverage of the event beginning at 7 a.m.

• Cruise over Ceres in new video

  August 9th, 2015

  A prominent mountain with bright streaks on its steep slopes is especially fascinating to scientists. The peak’s shape has been likened to a cone or a pyramid. It appears to be about 4 miles (6 kilometers) high, with respect to the surface around it, according to the latest estimates. This means the mountain has about […]

• From a million miles away, NASA camera shows Moon crossing face of Earth

  August 6th, 2015

  A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the Moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth. The series of images show the fully illuminated “dark side” of the Moon that is never visible from Earth.