United States Air Force

By John Mather The Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE) went up on a Delta rocket on Nov. 18, 1989, into a polar sun-synchronous orbit 900 km up. Our...

By Laura Rocchio On July 23, 1972 the first civilian satellite designed to image Earth’s land surfaces was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Califor...

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 13, 2026 NASA has adjusted operations of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to reduce atmospheric drag and prepare the spacecra...

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 29, 2026 A new analysis of Mercury has uncovered hundreds of bright linear streaks on crater slopes that point to ongoing loss...

As preparations continue for a mission to raise the orbit of NASA’s Swift astrophysics spacecraft, project officials are also pursuing steps to extend the sa...

What happens when a star dies? In 2019, Betelgeuse dimmed in brightness, sparking speculation that it may soon explode as a supernova. While it likely won’t...

This article was updated to include the full range of dates from the SOHO image. Lee esta historia en español aquí. NASA is in the midst of an unprecedented...

Driving rapid innovation in the American space industry, NASA has awarded Katalyst Space Technologies of Flagstaff, Arizona, a contract to raise a spacecraft...

To drive the development of key space-based capabilities for the United States, NASA is exploring an opportunity to demonstrate technology to raise a spacecr...

The 2001 Odyssey spacecraft captured a first-of-its-kind look at Arsia Mons, which dwarfs Earth’s tallest volcanoes. A new panorama from NASA’s 2001 Mars Ody...

NASA released more details about its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget May 30, canceling dozens of science missions and cutting thousands of jobs. The post N...

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars 20 years ago. In this image, the bluis...

Technicians do final checks on NASA’s Spirit rover in this image from March 28, 2003. The rover – and its twin, Opportunity – studied the history of climate...

Before Apollo astronauts set foot upon the Moon, much remained unknown about the lunar surface. While most scientists believed the Moon had a solid surface t...

On Jan. 19, 1965, Gemini 2 successfully completed the second of two uncrewed test flights of the spacecraft and its Titan II booster, clearing the way for th...

A defunct military weather satellite has broken up in orbit and created more than 50 pieces of debris, the latest in a series of similar incidents. The post...

In September 2004, NASA’s Genesis return sample capsule tumbled from the sky and slammed into the Utah desert in a remote part of the U.S. Army’s Dugway Prov...

By using new data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory as well as ESA’s XMM-Newton, a team of researchers have made impor...

On July 31, 1964, the Ranger 7 spacecraft took this photo, the first image of the Moon taken by a United States spacecraft. 17 minutes later, it crashed into...

Long before Apollo astronauts set foot upon the Moon, much remained unknown about the lunar surface. While most scientists believed the Moon had a solid surf...

A few of the many highlights from the last 20 years since Aura Launched.

The 23-year-old orbiter is taking images that offer horizon-wide views of the Red Planet similar to what astronauts aboard the International Space Station se...

This month marks the 20th anniversary of Spirit and Opportunity’s landing on Mars, part of a mission whose legacy will extend far into the future.

The map could help the agency decide where the first astronauts to the Red Planet should land. The more available water, the less missions will need to bring.

Scientists, using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, have discovered a black hole that is continuously snacking on a star that is similar to our Sun. Loc...

Using data collected by NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a team of scientists has discovered a...

"I think it would be pretty ambitious... but really great if we could pull it off."

NASA's Mars Odyssey Orbiter has been studying the Red Planet for the past 22 years, but the orbiter is approaching the end of its mission as its running low...

Measuring the fuel supply on a decades-old spacecraft without a fuel gauge is no easy task.

Using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and retired Spitzer Space Telescope, a group of researchers has discovered two exoplanets that may be largely c...

The newly deployed Sojourner rover – the first of its kind on the Red Planet – sits on the Martian surface after driving down Pathfinder’s ramp.

NASA’s Pioneer 10 and 11 are twin probes that helped illuminate the outer stretches of our solar neighborhood.

The missions will continue collecting data about the Red Planet, though engineers back on Earth will stop sending commands to them until mid-October.