NASA

Getting back to the business of NASA, an update on our Commercial Crew Program, and, our mission to the Sun is in full swing … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

No matter what team you’re rooting for, our technology is helping you play the game. Our discoveries off the planet have developed all sorts of equipment on the field — from shock-absorbent foam in helmets to retractable stadium roofs. 🏈 Go NASA!

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Moon missions, we prepare to take the next giant leap, with sustainable lunar missions that pave the way for eventual journeys beyond.

On the latest Watch This Space, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine looks back at 15 years of discoveries by our Opportunity rover on Mars, and forward to new commercial partnerships for missions to the Moon. Learn how we’ll work with American companies to design and develop human lunar landers and reusable systems so we can return to the Moon — to stay.

Working with industry to develop new lunar landers, testing resumes with our Space Launch System rocket engine, and after a job well done – the end of the line for one of our Mars rovers … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

An upcoming Commercial Crew Flight Test, training underway for the space station’s next crew, and a new development in our search for life beyond Earth … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Take a tour of the interior of SpaceX's Crew Dragon, targeted to launch on its first (uncrewed) demonstration flight on March 2, 2019. Crew Dragon is designed to transport up to four astronauts for NASA missions, along with critical cargo and supplies, to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The Crew Dragon features solar arrays affixed to the side of the spacecraft’s trunk, a launch escape system that will allow crew members to escape an anomaly at any point during flight, a large hatch and windows and a redesigned outer mold line to enhance crew comfort. The first uncrewed flight is an important step in returning human launches on American rockets and spacecraft to the space station from U.S. soil.

An important step for the Commercial Crew Program, more testing with our Space Launch System rocket engine, and a new show that explores how we do, what we do … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

How will astronauts board the SpaceX Crew Dragon? They'll use the Crew Access Arm, which provides a bridge to the spacecraft from the crew access tower at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. The Crew Dragon is designed to fly astronauts to the International Space Station on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

50 years ago, we tested the capabilities of our Moon landing spacecraft in Earth’s orbit. Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart performed systems checks and gathered data. The Lunar Module and the Command Module separated by nearly 100 miles and an engine burn check brought them back together. A challenging rendezvous and docking proved the abilities of the hardware. This historic mission launched on March 3, 1969 as an engineering mission and paved the way for future Apollo missions.

Space becomes “sonified” in this visualization of a cluster of galaxies imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Time flows left to right, and the frequency of sound changes from bottom to top, ranging from 30 to 1,000 hertz. Objects near the bottom of the image produce lower notes, while those near the top produce higher ones. Most of the visible specks are galaxies housing countless stars. A few individual stars shine brightly in the foreground. Stars and compact galaxies create short, clear tones, while sprawling spiral galaxies emit longer notes that change pitch. The higher density of galaxies near the center of the image — the heart of this galaxy cluster, known as RXC J0142.9+4438 — results in a swell of mid-range tones halfway through the video. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 acquired this image on Aug 10, 2023

Launched on March 2, 2019, from Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, the SpaceX Crew Dragon successfully reached low-Earth orbit and docked autonomously to the International Space Station.

After undocking from the International Space Station at 2:32 a.m. EST on Friday, March 8, the SpaceX Crew Dragon completed a deorbit burn to reenter Earth's atmosphere, deployed parachutes and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean at 8:45 a.m. EST. These are the final milestones of the Demo-1 flight test, in which SpaceX demonstrated systems which will be used to carry astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon to the space station.

The first uncrewed Commercial Crew Flight Test is complete, Vice President Pence calls the space station, and the station’s next crew prepares for launch … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

NASA is going to the Moon and on to Mars, in a measured, sustainable way. Working with U.S. companies and international partners, NASA will push the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon. NASA is working to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon within the next decade to uncover new scientific discoveries and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.

As spacecraft commander for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, Neil Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the Moon and first to step on its surface.

Neil A. Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 mission to land on the Moon, reflects on the successful mission and his experience in lunar exploration.

The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth. The success of the mission was celebrated globally and united all humankind. This video shows the parades that celebrated the successful return of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

Buzz Aldrin was chosen as a member of the three-person Apollo 11 crew that landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, fulfilling the mandate of President John F. Kennedy to send Americans to the Moon before the end of the decade. Aldrin was the second American to set foot on the lunar surface.

Parkinson’s disease affects more than 5 million people on Earth. Research on the International Space Station could provide insight into this chronic neurodegenerative disease and help scientists find ways to treat and prevent it. In this video, NASA astronaut Serena Auñon-Chancellor narrates as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Alexander Gerst uses a microscope to examine and photograph the LRRK2 crystals.

Meet the scientists who are making big discoveries by studying some very tiny rocks. The women of NASA’s Mid-Atlantic Noble Gas Research Laboratory (MNGRL) are getting ready to analyze never-before-seen Moon samples. These samples, collected by Apollo astronauts and brought back to Earth, have been carefully preserved for half a century so they could be studied by future generations of scientists.

NASA is going to the Moon and on to Mars, in a measured, sustainable way. Working with U.S. companies and international partners, NASA will push the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon. NASA is working to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon within the next decade to uncover new scientific discoveries and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy. A key component of establishing the first permanent American presence and infrastructure on and around the Moon is the Gateway, a lunar orbiting platform to host astronauts farther from Earth than ever before. On the Gateway, America and its partners will prepare to transit deep space, testing new technologies and systems as we build the infrastructure to support missions to the surface of the Moon and prepare for the epochal mission to Mars. NASA also will study the effects of the deep space environment of the Gateway, learning how living organisms react to the radiation and microgravity of a deep space environment over long periods.

NASA is going to the Moon and on to Mars, in a measured, sustainable way. Working with U.S. companies and international partners, NASA will push the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon. NASA is working to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon within the next decade to uncover new scientific discoveries and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy. The lunar surface will serve as a crucial training ground and technology demonstration test site where we will prepare for future human missions to Mars and other destinations. Through an innovative combination of missions involving commercial and international partners, robotic lunar surface missions will begin as early as 2020, focus on scientific exploration of lunar resources, and prepare the lunar surface for a sustained human presence.

NASA is going to the Moon and on to Mars, in a measured, sustainable way. Working with U.S. companies and international partners, NASA will push the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon. NASA is working to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon within the next decade to uncover new scientific discoveries and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy. The lunar surface will serve as a crucial training ground and technology demonstration test site where we will prepare for future human missions to Mars and other destinations. Through an innovative combination of missions involving commercial and international partners, robotic lunar surface missions will begin as early as 2020, focus on scientific exploration of lunar resources, and prepare the lunar surface for a sustained human presence.

A spacewalk outside the space station, testing a motor critical to the safety of Orion, and some surprising findings about asteroid Bennu … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!