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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

The Egg Nebula, seen here in a view from the Hubble Space Telescope, is a "preplanetary nebula," or a cloud of dust and gas ejected from a dying star and illuminated by the star's last bit of light.

Image of the Day

By Hanneke Weitering

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus NG-11 cargo ship launches from Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia on April 17, 2019.

Space News Webcasts: Cygnus Cargo Ship Arrives at Space Station

By SPACE.com Staff

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo ship is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station around 5:30 a.m. EDT (0930 GMT) Friday (April 19). Watch live here!

SpaceX's Falcon 9 lifts off from Cap Canaveral

Blastoff! How to See a Rocket Launch In Person This Year

By Sarah Lewin

It's not just for the pros: With a little planning and flexibility, anybody can go watch a rocket blast off. Our in-depth guide goes through each of this year's U.S. launch locations and dates.

Skylab 3 science pilot Owen Garriott is seen stationed at the Apollo Telescope Mount console aboard the Skylab space station.

Owen Garriott, Skylab and Space Shuttle Astronaut, Dies at 88

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Owen Garriott, a Skylab and space shuttle astronaut who was the first to use amateur radio from orbit, has died at the age of 88

NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Christina Koch and Nick Hague conduct spacesuit maintenance in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Like most Americans on Earth, astronauts has to file their taxes for 2018 by April 15, 2019.

Tax Day 2019 Reaches Astronauts in Space, Too

By Hanneke Weitering

For U.S. citizens, there's no escaping Tax Day — not even if you've left planet Earth.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket made its first commercial launch on April 11, 2019

SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Launch Cutting-Edge NASA Space Tech

By Elizabeth Howell

A recent epic SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch — only the second trip to space for this rocket line — brings a set of NASA technologies one step closer to getting its own ride into orbit.

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This Week's Top Space Stories!

By Doris Elin Salazar

Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Saru (Doug Jones), Tyler (Shazad Latif), Spock (Ethan Peck), Bryce (Ronnie Rowe), Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo), Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) and Tilly (Mary Wiseman) stand ready for their next journey in the "Star Trek: Discovery" episode "Such Sweet Sorrow.

'Such Sweet Sorrow' Is a Befuddled Buildup to the 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 2 Finale

By Scott Snowden

The Queen of Xahea from the 'Short Trek" episode 'Runaway' makes an appearance in 'Such Sweet Sorrow.'

Lockheed Martin's proposed lunar lander could bring NASA astronauts to the surface of the moon in 2024.

Lockheed Martin Proposes 'Early Gateway' to Put Astronauts on the Moon by 2024

By Hanneke Weitering

Here's how Lockheed wants to put "boots on the moon."

Scott and Mark Kelly (Mark at left) at a press event in 2015 before Scott's nearly yearlong stay on the International Space Station. Researchers carefully tracked both twins over the course of the mission and afterward to observe how Scott's body and capabilities changed due to spaceflight.

Landmark NASA Twins Study Reveals Space Travel's Effects on the Human Body

By Sarah Lewin

A year on the space station has an undeniable impact across the human body, but many of the body's systems recover after a return to Earth.

SpaceX withdrew a protest it filed in February over a contract NASA awarded to ULA for the Atlas 5 launch of the Lucy asteroid mission.

SpaceX Drops Protest of NASA Launch Contract

By Jeff Foust

SpaceX has withdrawn its protest of a launch contract NASA awarded to United Launch Alliance earlier this year for a planetary science mission.

The Broadmoor Hotel is hosting the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 8-11, 2019.

US Space Dominance Dominates 35th Space Symposium Agenda

By SpaceNews Staff

Vice President Mike Pence won’t be delivering a keynote address at this year's Space Symposium, but the speech he gave two weeks ago is sure to reverberate across the event.

This global view of Mars is composed of about 100 Viking Orbiter images.

A Brief History of Mars Missions

By Elizabeth Howell

It's only natural for humankind to want to know more about Mars, our dearest planetary neighbor.

Astronauts Jim Buchli and Janet Kavandi were inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Saturday, April 6, 2019, under the display of the retired space shuttle Atlantis at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. They unveiled their plaques, which will be placed in the Hall of Fame at the visitor complex.

Astronaut Hall of Fame Adds Space Shuttle Fliers Jim Buchli, Janet Kavandi

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Shuttle astronauts Jim Buchli and Janet Kavendi are the latest inductees to the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

The CST-100 Starliner that will be used for a crewed test flight undergoes testing. That mission to the ISS will be extended, potentially by months, NASA said April 3.

NASA Approves Extension of Boeing Starliner Commercial Crew Test Flight

By Jeff Foust

A day after Boeing confirmed delays in test flights of its commercial crew vehicle, NASA said that the company's crewed test flight will get an extended stay at the station when it does fly.

This image comes from a computer simulation of a skyrmion bag containing three skyrmions. White represents magnetic field lines pointing up, black represents lines pointing down, and other colors represent other directions.

Physicists Stuffed a Ghostly 'Skyrmion' Full of 'Antiskyrmions'

By Rafi Letzter

The ghostly 'quasiparticles' have barely any material existence, but physicists are still managing to manipulate them into uncanny shapes.

Pike (Anson Mount) gets a hard look at the future in the "Star Trek: Discovery" episode "Through the Valley of Shadows."

'Star Trek: Discovery' Is Guided to a New Time Crystal in 'Through the Valley of Shadows'

By Scott Snowden

Pike gets a glimpse of his future in the latest episode of "Star Trek: Discovery."

An artist's depiction of the Parker Solar Probe at work around the sun.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe Makes 2nd Daring Flyby of the Sun

By Meghan Bartels

NASA's record-breaking solar mission silently completed another close pass of the sun yesterday (April 4).

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine testifies before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on April 2, 2019, during a hearing to review NASA's fiscal year 2020 budget request.

NASA's Moon-by-2024 Push Could Help Put Astronauts on Mars by 2033, Chief Says

By Hanneke Weitering

"The moon is the proving ground," Bridenstine said.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said at a town hall meeting April 1 that there "is nothing sacred here that is off the table" about how to achieve the goal of landing humans on the moon by 2024.

NASA Chief Says 'Nothing Off the Table' as Agency Develops New Moon Plan

By Jeff Foust

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said April 1 that he hopes to develop an initial plan within the next couple of weeks for getting astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2024.