Category Archives: Space

Technology: NASA Targets Asteroid With Spacecraft

NASA introduced the space agency’s first planetary defense test mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or DART, a spacecraft they plan to launch later this month on a mission to crash into an asteroid.

NASA Space Missions: Ten Mysteries Of Venus (Video)

The surface of Venus is completely inhospitable for life: barren, dry, crushed under an atmosphere about 90 times the pressure of Earth’s and roasted by temperatures two times hotter than an oven. But was it always that way? Could Venus once have been a twin of Earth — a habitable world with liquid water oceans? This is one of the many mysteries associated with our shrouded sister world. 27 years have passed since NASA’s Magellan mission last orbited Venus. That was NASA’s most recent mission to Earth’s sister planet, and while we have gained significant knowledge of Venus since then, there are still numerous mysteries about the planet that remain unsolved. NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission hopes to change that. Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Science: Satellite Swarms Block Astronomers Gaze

For millennia, bright lights sprinkled across our celestial sphere have guided great explorers, passed on storied traditions, and lent insight into the nature of our universe. Now, they have competition: thousands of satellites circling the globe in low orbit. Read the story: https://www.science.org/content/artic…

Tech Views: China’s New Modular Space Station

China says its spacecraft has more advanced technology. While the future of the nearly 23-year-old International Space Station remains uncertain after 2024, China says its newly equipped Tiangong station will be up and running by next year. WSJ unpacks the design and technology of both space stations. Photo: CCTV; NASA

NASA Space Missions: The Search For Life On Venus

NASA is planning two missions to Venus to assess if the now-toxic planet once had an ocean, continents and life. Scientists are beginning the effort on Earth by training sensors and machine learning systems to analyze the building blocks of our own planet. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann

Satellite Internet: SpaceX Battles China In Space

SpaceX has more than 1,000 satellites beaming high-speed internet to Earth, but China promises to offer higher speeds with the launch of what it calls the world’s first 6G satellite. Here’s how both are on a quest to build powerful internet networks in space. Photo illustration: Sharon Shi

Mars Missions: The China And U.S. ‘Battle Of Rovers’

The U.S. and China are locked in a fierce battle in the race for Mars. China’s Zhurong rover is circling Mars as the country attempts to land a spacecraft on the red planet for the first time, just months after NASA landed its Perseverance rover. Photos: NASA; CCTV

Earth Day – April 22, 2021: ‘Our Planet, Our Home’

NASA Earth science studies our planet all day, every day. By tracking the movement of our natural systems – and the effect of human activity on them – we can understand the patterns, causes and results of climate change on the elemental activities that sustain us.

On Earth Day, April 22, we take time to celebrate this wondrous planet with special discussions, events (virtual) and activities. Like our satellites, however, NASA’s Earth science goes on year-round, and we continuously create videos, activities, news and more to tell the story of what’s happening on and with our planet – and all always offered free and open to the public.

For the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2020, NASA created a special package of materials designed to mark Earth Day at Home. This included activities, videos, special programs and other materials in English and Spanish. You can find them all archived here.