NASA (Page 5)

The latest on the US space agency's crafts, missions, and discoveries—from low-Earth orbit to deep space.

Latest in NASA

NASA's Super Guppy rocket transport prop plane landing on tarmac in Alabama

Watch NASA’s bizarre and bulbous Super Guppy cargo plane touch down in Alabama

Three moons and Jupiter, plus the NASA probe Juno.

The Juno spacecraft spotted evidence of a salty ocean on Jupiter’s biggest moon

By Briley Lewis

Astronomers found the most distant black hole ever detected in X-rays (in a galaxy dubbed UHZ1) using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope. X-ray emission is a telltale signature of a growing supermassive black hole. This result may explain how some of the first supermassive black holes in the universe formed. These images show the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 that UHZ1 is located behind, in X-rays from Chandra and infrared data from JWST, as well as close-ups of the black hole host galaxy UHZ1.

Farthest black hole ever recorded by astronomers is nearly as old as our universe

By Laura Baisas

A sample of Asteroid Bennu is put on public display for the first time at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, on November 3, 2023. A sample collected from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu contains abundant water and carbon, NASA revealed, offering more evidence for the theory that life on Earth was seeded from outer space. The small black rock is located in a glass viewing pain.

Smithsonian unveils a very small sample of the 4.5-billion-year-old Bennu asteroid

By Laura Baisas

Screenshot of star from NASA+ show 'Space Out'

NASA’s free streaming platform launches this week. Here’s what to watch.

A large asteroid with a smaller asteroid orbiting it. This image shows the “moonrise” of the satellite as it emerges from behind asteroid Dinkinesh as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager. This image was taken by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft at 12:55 p.m. EDT on November 1, 2023, within a minute of closest approach, from a range of approximately 270 miles. From this perspective, the satellite is behind the primary asteroid. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.

First NASA images from Lucy’s flyby reveal that ‘Dinky’ is not alone

By Laura Baisas

yeah! caption is A size comparison of Dinkinesh (shown in blue) and other main asteroid belt objects Bennu and (2867) Steins.

NASA spacecraft Lucy says hello to ‘Dinky’ asteroid on far-flying mission

By Laura Baisas

The Milky Way galaxy shines above a dark space telescope in the foreground.

What astronomers learned from a near-Earth asteroid they never saw coming

By Briley Lewis

The gold mirrors of JSWT sit in front of an extremely large, circular door in a vast room with scientists working.

This NASA photographer documented the 30-year journey to build the James Webb Space Telescope

By Abby Ferguson

Man holding HULC lunar camera in rocky outdoor environment

A sneak peek at the lunar camera destined for the Artemis missions

Artist rendition of Voyager 1 in space

Voyager probes get virtual tune-up to keep decades-long missions going and going

NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt is standing on the moon’s surface next to a large split lunar boulder, with a roving vehicle on the other side of the boulder.

The moon is 40 million years older than we thought, according to crystals collected by Apollo astronauts

By Laura Baisas

Pale craters on the moon's lunar surface, with dark shadows below.

This private lander could be the first US machine on the moon this century

Red-capped Hall effect thrusters being attached to a spacecraft body by two engineers.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will blaze an unusual blue trail across the solar system

By Briley Lewis

The metal capsule containing asteroid samples of Bennu.

NASA’s first asteroid-return sample is a goldmine of life-sustaining materials

Parker Solar Probe in front of sun concept art

The fastest ever human-made object keeps breaking its own speed record

Close up of Axiom Space Prada lunar spacesuit glove

Moon-bound Artemis III spacesuits have some functional luxury sewn in

A spacecraft in a white room as technicians wearing cleanroom suits look on.

NASA’s mission to a weird metal asteroid has blasted off

Inside the small world of simulating other worlds

Inside the small world of simulating other worlds

By Sarah Scoles/Undark

Rendering of Firefly Space's Blue Ghost lunar lander on moon surface

Why astronomers want to put a telescope on the dark side of the moon

A NASA illustration of its boxy OSIRIS spacecraft touching an asteroid.

NASA’s OSIRIS mission delivered asteroid samples to Earth

Iridescent Running Chicken Nebula with glowing gases and stars

31 award-winning astronomy photos: From fiery horizons to whimsical auroras

By Annie Colbert

A weather balloon against blue sky

NASA wants to use AI to study unidentified aerial phenomenon

This US astronaut will have spent an entire year in orbit

This US astronaut will have spent an entire year in orbit

By Sara Kiley Watson

Concept art of Artemis lunar base with astronauts

Poppyseed-sized nuclear fuel cells might power a NASA moon base

Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured this detailed image of SN 1987A (Supernova 1987A). At the center, material ejected from the supernova forms a keyhole shape.

See the stunning Supernova 1987A in a whole new light

By Laura Baisas

Illustration of laser communication satellite array and the ISS above Earth

Space lasers could beam information to Earth by the end of the year

A portion of the far side of the Moon looms large just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this image taken November 21, 2022, by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The darkest spot visible near the middle of the image is Mare Orientale.

You might be able to plant a tree from seeds NASA flew by the moon

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of two NASA astronauts in a lunar crater.

Why do all these countries want to go to the moon right now?

The white Boeing Starliner capsule above a blue Earth.

Boeing’s struggling Starliner craft won’t fly astronauts until at least 2024

Two astronauts walking in spacesuits in a desert

How do you keep a spacesuit clean? One answer is antimicrobial fabric.

Two NASA lunar CADRE rovers parked on the ground

NASA gears up to send a trio of rovers to the moon in 2024

NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin walking across Tranquility Base with equipment after the Apollo 11 moon landing. Black and white photo.

Space junk is a precious treasure trove to some archaeologists

space shuttle endeavour blasts off

What it takes to display a 176,000-pound space shuttle in a launch configuration

A rotor in the middle of a large wind tunnel.

How epic wind tunnels on Earth make us better at flying through space

By Briley Lewis

Orange, fire-like clouds extend from a central star.

Astronomers spy cosmic dust, with a twist, from the very early universe

Hubble space telescope deep field view of ancient galaxies that helps answer the question: How old is the universe?

How old is the universe? Our answer keeps getting more precise.

By Charlie Wood

three electric vehicles for nasa parked in a row

Check out NASA’s fun new electric vans

By Harry Guinness

JWST composite image of barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068, showing its core and part of a spiral arm. Clumps and filaments of dust, represented in a mossy green color, form an almost skeletal structure that follow the twist of the galaxy and its spiral arm.

15 remarkable JWST images that reveal the wonders of our vast universe

VIPER moon rover coming down a ramp during a test at the NASA Ames Research Center

NASA’s quirky new lunar rover will be the first to cruise the moon’s south pole

Europa Clipper Propulsion Module

How to get your name engraved on a NASA spacecraft bound for Europa

Astronaut on ISS holding up water system filter replacement

Onboard the ISS, nothing goes to waste—including sweat and pee

NASA kills its electric plane’s flight plan, citing safety concerns

NASA kills its electric plane’s flight plan, citing safety concerns

R Aquarii binary star system

NASA turns spectacular space telescope images into vibey ‘cosmic sonifications’

nasa x-66a sustainable flight demonstrator

NASA’s ‘airliner of the future’ is now officially an X-plane

A mosaic of ocean world Enceladus, a geologically active moon of Saturn.

Every essential ingredient for life exists on an ocean moon in our solar system

A Boeing Starliner capsule approaches the ISS.

Boeing can’t catch a break as its Starliner spacecraft gets delayed again

Person underwater looking up at outer space to represent Blue Abyss training tank. Illustrated.

Inside Blue Abyss’ plan to build super-deep pools for astronauts and military bots

By Sarah Scoles

NASA Perseverance rover being readied indoors for launch for the Mars 2020 mission

A spacecraft engineer’s wisdom from Mars 2020 and a disaster-stricken island

By Elio Morillo

NASA's Psyche probe should blast off to an asteroid later in 2023.

NASA’s journey to a strange metal asteroid should finally begin in October

By Briley Lewis

Computer illustration of ISS with docket spacecraft

The ISS’s latest delivery includes space plants and atmospheric lightning monitors

An unidentified object makes an apparent atmospheric wake.

UFO data is honestly a mess, NASA panel says

SuperBIT high-altitude balloon with space telescope in the skies after its launch

A super pressure balloon built by students is cruising Earth’s skies to find dark matter

Concept art of Blue Origin NASA Artemis V lunar lander on moon

NASA chooses Blue Origin to build Artemis V lunar lander

A new NASA study will put people through a brain-shaking ride in the Kraken

NASA's TeraByte InfraRed Delivery system satellite on a pedestal

A tiny NASA CubeSat just set a big data speed record with lasers

Skylab, America's first space station, orbits Earth.

Looking back at Skylab, NASA’s pioneering space station

Concept art of NASA EELS snake robot on icy surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus

NASA hopes its snake robot can search for alien life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus

A NASA illustration linking the moon and Mars.

NASA’s newest office is all about putting humans on Mars

NASA Ingenuity helicopter lost in a Mars crater in a photo taken by Perseverance rover

Name a better duo than NASA’s hard-working Mars rover and helicopter

By Briley Lewis

engineers working on voyager 2

How is Voyager’s vintage technology still flying?

By Popular Science Team

Computer image rendering of NASA RHESSI solar studying satellite above Earth

NASA’s 600-pound solar radiation tracker is plummeting to Earth tomorrow

Exoplanet KMT-2021-BLG-1898L b is a gas giant that looks like Jupiter but orbits a separate star. Illustration.

An Einstein-backed method could help us find smaller exoplanets than ever before

By Briley Lewis

Person in a dark room watering a houseplant with a beam of light. Illustrated.

How to grow plants in the dark

By Ellen Airhart