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NASA

NASA is the space agency run by the United States to oversee American space exploration, research and technology. NASA, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was founded in 1958 as a civilian agency for U.S. space exploration. Prior to 1958, the agency's progenitor was known as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NASA develops, builds and launches missions to study the Earth, moon and sun, as well as the entire solar system and beyond. The agency has its headquarters in Washington D.C., with major centers in Florida (the Kennedy Space Center for launches) and Houston (the Johnson Space Center, home of the astronaut corps). Other centers are spread across the country for scientific research, test flights and spacecraft manufacturing. NASA's current chief is Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who is leading the agency's mission of returning astronauts to the moon and sending them on to Mars. See the latest NASA news.

Related Topics: Apollo Program, China Space Program, Incredible Space Tech, International Space Station, Interstellar Travel

Latest Updates

Outside the International Space Station, the Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer ejects three small cubesats into low Earth orbit for the BIRDS-3 mission, which is part of a program to help countries build their first satellites. This batch of cubesats includes Nepal's first satellite, NepaliSat-1, and Sri Lanka's first satellite, Raavana-1. The third is a Japanese cubesat called Uguisu. All three arrived at the space station in April on board a Cygnus cargo spacecraft, and the Expedition 59 crew released them into space on Monday (June 17).

Pictures from Space! Our Image of the Day

By Hanneke Weitering

Outside the International Space Station, the Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer ejects three small cubesats into low Earth orbit for the BIRDS-3 mission.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has returned to view its Saturn IB rocket after an almost year-long restoration.

Fully Restored, Apollo-Era Saturn IB Rocket Returns to NASA Display

By Robert Z. Pearlman

NASA's last flight-configured example of the rocket that launched the first Apollo astronauts into space is back on public view, having undergone an almost year-long, extensive restoration.

Earthrise From Moon Feb. 1, 2014

Amazing Moon Photos from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

By SPACE.com Staff

See the latest images of the moon from NASA's LRO spacecraft.

NASA's twin E-TBEx cubesats will study how charged particles in the ionosphere, shown in this visualization, affect satellites.

Twin NASA Satellites Will Ride SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Study Earth's Ionosphere

By Kasandra Brabaw

NASA will be launching two identical miniature satellites next week as part of a project designed to help scientists understand how Earth's atmosphere muddies the radio signals we rely on.

NASA will launch this spacecraft fueled by green technology in order to test an alternative to hydrazine.

NASA's 'Green' Fuel Will Make Its Space Debut on SpaceX Falcon Heavy Mission

By Passant Rabie

NASA will test out a green alternative to propellant fuel for cleaner, more efficient spaceflight.

Remastering data gathered by the Galileo spacecraft in the 1990s, experts released an image of Jupiter's moon Europa that a deep space explorer might see.

Top Space Stories of the Week!

By Doris Elin Salazar

These are the top space stories this week from Space.com.

Wernher von Braun was a crucial player in the early days of the American spaceflight program.

'Chasing the Moon' Shows Nazi Past of Engineer Wernher Von Braun in Early Space Program (Video)

By Elizabeth Howell

A new clip from the forthcoming PBS series "Chasing the Moon" shows the Nazi past of Wernher von Braun, one of NASA's top rocket engineers from the early days of American spaceflight.

An animation of SET positioned on the DSX spacecraft.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Will Launch NASA Probe to Study Space Radiation

By Passant Rabie

NASA's SET mission will test the effects of radiation on satellites to learn how to better protect them in space.

NASA's Artemis project aims to land humans on the moon again by 2024.

NASA Chief Says Returning Astronauts to the Moon Could Cost $30 Billion

By Meghan Bartels

It was always going to be expensive, but NASA's first cost estimate for the agency's push to land humans on the moon by 2024, is finally here — and it's surprisingly cheap.

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Space Gifts 2019: Best Father's Day Gifts in the Universe

By SPACE.com Staff

Father's Day is right around the corner, and there's still time to get your dad something out of this world! Here are Space.com's picks for the best last-minute Father's Day gifts.

From left: Earth scientist James R. Irons, astrophysicist Padi Boyd, aerospace engineer Farah Alibay, astrophysicist Nour E. Raouafi, and host and astrophysicist Caleb Scharf.

'Eyes in the Skies': The Intrepid Probes That Show Us Space — And Earth

By Doris Elin Salazar

As auditorium lights were dimming for an event called "Eyes in the Skies," a girl and her mother made their way to a pair of front-row seats.

In a letter that Albert Einstein wrote in 1945, the famous physicist sketched two diagrams demonstrating a novel approach to the thought experiment called the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox.

'God Plays Dice with the Universe,' Einstein Writes in Letter About His Qualms with Quantum Theory

By Mindy Weisberger

Three letters written by Einstein are up for auction, and they offer an intriguing view of his thoughts on quantum physics.

An artist's depiction of the Mini Bee spacecraft designed to test optical mining in space.

NASA Eyes Wild Space Tech Ideas to Mine the Moon (and Asteroids, Too!)

By Elizabeth Howell

Two far-off NASA concepts could quickly survey lunar craters for astronauts and help identify mining resources on nearby asteroids.

The new street sign for Hidden Figures Way outside NASA headquarters in Washington is unveiled during a ceremony on June 12, 2019. (From left to right: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Sen. Ted Cruz, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and "Hidden Figures" author Margot Lee Shetterly.)

NASA Unveils 'Hidden Figures Way' at Headquarters to Honor Female Space Icons

By Hanneke Weitering

The street outside NASA headquarters in Washington was renamed "Hidden Figures Way" today (June 12) in honor of the women who worked as "human computers" at the agency in the 1960s.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Space Launch Complex 4E of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Jan. 11, 2019.

Space Webcasts: SpaceX Radarsat Satellite Launch, NASA Hidden Figures Celebration

By SPACE.com Staff

SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 rocket to launch three new Earth-observing satellites for the Canadian Space Agency on Wednesday (June 12) at 10:17 a.m. EDT (1417 GMT). Watch it live here!

Get excited for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 with new space books!

Reading Apollo 11: The Best New Books About the US Moon Landings

By SPACE.com Staff

Here at Space.com, we're gearing up for the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 moon landing in July.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks to agency employees at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio on June 10, 2019.

NASA Chief Says US Still Aimed at a Moon Return by 2024, Despite Trump Tweet

By Hanneke Weitering

As NASA is scrambling to land astronauts on the moon by 2024, the agency chief reminded employees today (June 10) that Mars — not the moon — is the agency's ultimate destination.

abstract physics

Einstein's Quest to 'Know God's Thoughts' Could Take Millennia

By Don Lincoln

Unifying all the forces and particles would require a particle accelerator far more powerful than humans have ever built.

A subatomic particle illustration.

Physicists Search for Monstrous Higgs Particle. It Could Seal the Fate of the Universe.

By Paul Sutter

Without the Higgs, the Standard Model of particle physics comes crashing down.

An artist's depiction of NASA's Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe May Solve 500-Year-Old Sun Mystery

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is on its way to another close encounter with the sun, where investigators hope the spacecraft will solve a long-standing solar mystery.