space info

America’s first space station and the first crewed research laboratory in space, Skylab, lifted off on May 14, 1973. Skylab helped pave the way for permanent operations in low-Earth orbit. Over the course of its human occupation from May 25, 1973, to Feb. 8, 1974, three crews visited Skylab, carrying out 270 scientific and technical investigations in astronauts’ physiological responses to long-duration space flight, Earth sciences, solar physics, and astronomy. The research conducted on Skylab helped prepare NASA for living and working in space on the International Space Station, and our journey to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

The Artemis II Moon mission crew visits D.C., another partner to land humans on the Moon, and preparing to get to the heart of “cosmic matter” … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Moving ahead with space station power upgrades, some VIPs hear about some very important missions, and new eye-popping views of Earth from space … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

The second all-private astronaut mission to the space station, completing the set of tiny severe weather trackers, and a robotic explorer – with a twist … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Are there earthquakes on other planets? There sure are, but we don’t call them earthquakes. Instead, “moonquakes” & “marsquakes” are shaking things up in space. Dr. Jacob Richardson of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains more about what otherworldly quakes can teach us about not only the interiors of planetary bodies, but also what's happening inside Earth.

In September 2023, scientists with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will gather in the Utah desert for the arrival of the largest asteroid sample ever received on Earth. “Asteroid City” actors, including Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend, Jake Ryan and Jeffrey Wright, join NASA OSIRIS-REx sample expert Dr. Danny Glavin to discuss how studying the asteroid sample will give scientists insight into how the early solar system formed and how life began on Earth. After a seven-year round trip journey that included mapping Bennu’s surface (a near-Earth asteroid that is no threat to our planet), identifying minerals and chemicals, and collecting a sample from the surface, OSIRIS-REx is on its way back to Earth with more than eight ounces of material

A crucial find by our James Webb Space Telescope, learning how life might be on Mars, and some tricky testing for a lunar roving robot … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Here’s a big question: How did life begin on Earth? We don’t quite know, but this fundamental question is a driving force behind astrobiology research at NASA. Understanding how life originated on our planet could inform us about the potential for life to exist throughout the universe.

Northrop Grumman's 19th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is carrying scientific investigations including a 3D neuron cell culture to test gene therapy, instruments to monitor plasma density, and an updated potable water dispenser system. The Cygnus spacecraft carrying these experiments to the orbiting laboratory is scheduled to lift off no earlier than August 1 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

What the Webb telescope found way back in the early Universe, another hot trip around the Sun for our Parker Solar Probe, and we’re back in touch with our helicopter on Mars … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Sending a swarm of small satellites into orbit, the first views from our newest storm-watching mission, and making the grade for investing in small business … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Is climate change the same as global warming? Not quite. The warming of Earth — or global warming — is just one factor that makes up a range of changes that are happening to our planet, which is climate change.

A commercial resupply mission heads to the space station, a key piece of hardware for a future Moon mission is on the move, and another spacecraft gets ready to spread its wings in deep space … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

The Artemis II astronauts check out their ride to the Moon, practicing post-splashdown recovery operations for Artemis II, and the Webb Space Telescope checks out a record-breaking star … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

We know the Moon contains water, but, could future astronauts access and make use of it? That’s the goal. At NASA, we’re actively trying to answer that question. Once it lands at the lunar south pole, our PRIME-1 — Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 – will robotically sample and analyze ice from beneath the lunar surface, contributing to our search for water on the Moon

On May 16, 2023, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew past Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, and then the gas giant soon after. Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Slightly larger than Earth’s moon, Io is a world in constant torment. Not only is the biggest planet in the solar system forever pulling at it gravitationally, but so are its Galilean siblings – Europa and the biggest moon in the solar system, Ganymede. The result is that Io is continuously stretched and squeezed, actions linked to the creation of the lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes. This rendering provides a “starship captain” point of view of the flyby, using images from JunoCam. For both targets, Io and Jupiter, raw JunoCam images were reprojected into views similar to the perspective of a consumer camera. The Io flyby and the Jupiter approach movie were rendered separately and composed into a synchronous split-screen video. Launched on Aug. 5, 2011, Juno embarked on a 5-year journey to Jupiter. Its mission: to probe beneath the planet's dense clouds and answer questions about the origin and evolution of Jupiter, our solar system, and giant planets in general across the cosmos. Juno arrived at the gas giant on July 4, 2016, after a 1.7-billion-mile journey, and settled into a 53-day polar orbit stretching from just above Jupiter’s cloud tops to the outer reaches of the Jovian magnetosphere. Now in its extended mission, NASA’s most distant planetary orbiter continues doing flybys of Jupiter and its moons.

Our next space station crew rotation flight, a launch day simulation for our upcoming Moon mission, and visiting the splashdown recovery crew for Artemis II … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

When it comes to space, humans and robots go way back. We rely heavily on our mechanical friends to perform tasks that are too dangerous, difficult, or out of reach for us humans. We’re even working on a new generation of robots that will help us explore in advanced and novel ways.

Introducing NASA's new streaming service, NASA+, launching soon. More space. More rockets. More science. More missions. More NASA. All in one place. No subscription needed. NASA+ is ad free, no cost, and family friendly. It will feature NASA's Emmy award-winning live coverage, and new original video series. NASA+ will be available on most major platforms via the NASA App on iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices; streaming media players such as, Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV; and on the web across desktop and mobile devices.

How do planets get their names? With the exception of Earth, the planets in our solar system were named after Greek or Roman gods. Today, the job of naming things in space falls to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the internationally recognized authority for naming celestial bodies and their surface features. NASA scientist Dr. Henry Throop explains more.