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The HEROES balloon has just been released. This happens just prior to the gondola release.
HEROES Takes Flight
November 4, 2013 // by

A September balloon launch by a young team of NASA engineers paves the way for higher resolution heliophysics and astrophysics observations.

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The first International Space Station crew, from left Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev and International Space Station Commander Bill Shepherd, practice water survival skills in the Black Sea recently. The skills would be needed in the event a Soyuz spacecraft landed in the water rather than on land as is normal. The crew is scheduled to launch to the new station in January 1999 aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
This Month in NASA History: The “Shake Down” Crew Launches
October 30, 2013 // by

On October 30, 2000, the first International Space Station crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, kicking off a 13-year streak of human presence in space that continues to this day. 

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Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, in July 2015. The craft's miniature cameras, radio science experiment, ultraviolet and infrared spetctrometers and space plasma experiments will characterize the global geology and geomorphology of Pluto and Charon, map their surface compositions and temperatures, and examine Pluto's atmosphere in detail. The spacecraft'stt most prominent design feature is a nearly 7-foot (2.1-meter) dish antenna, through which it will communicate with Earth from as far as 4.7 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers) away.
History Brief: Exploring New Horizons
October 23, 2013 // by

Like NASA’s Gravity Probe B and Kepler spacecraft, the New Horizons mission to Pluto was a long time in the making, overcoming many obstacles before ever leaving the launch pad.

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A technician instruments the NESC-developed composite crew module for testing.
The NESC: A Decade of Learning
October 17, 2013 // by

By Dawn Schaible and Tim Wilson  Memories fade, and with them so does the impact of lessons learned.  Ten years after the Columbia tragedy we need to remind ourselves of these lessons and continue to be vigilant as NASA develops its current and future missions.

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Government Shutdown Graphic
We’ll be back as soon as possible!
October 1, 2013 // by

We’re sorry, but we will not be posting updates to this site during the government shutdown. Also, all public NASA activities and events are cancelled or postponed until further notice. We’ll be back as soon as possible! Sorry for the inconvenience.

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Endeavour touches down in darkness at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after 14 days in space.
Lessons Learned from Space Shuttle Program Transition and Retirement
September 25, 2013 // by

When do you start retirement planning for a major program like the Space Shuttle?

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An artist's impression of the Galileo probe descending into Jupiter's atmosphere.
This Month in NASA History: Galileo Comes to an End
September 23, 2013 // by

Ten years ago this month, the Galileo spacecraft deliberately ended its 14-year lifespan as it disappeared into Jupiter’s atmosphere. 

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This color picture is made from images taken by the imaging system on the Galileo spacecraft about 14 minutes before its closest approach to asteroid 243 Ida on August 28, 1993. The range from the spacecraft was about 10,500 kilometers (6,500 miles). The images used are from the sequence in which Ida's moon was originally discovered; the moon is visible to the right of the asteroid. This picture is made from images through the 4100-angstrom (violet), 7560 A (infrared) and 9680 A (infrared) filters. The color is 'enhanced' in the sense that the CCD camera is sensitive to near infrared wavelengths of light beyond human vision; a 'natural' color picture of this asteroid would appear mostly gray.
This Month in NASA History: Galileo Spots First Moon of an Asteroid
August 28, 2013 // by

Twenty years ago this month, Galileo glimpsed asteroid 243 Ida and discovered it wasn’t alone. 

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John Houbolt, an engineer at Langley Research Center, is credited with fully developing the lunar-orbit rendezvous (LOR) approach. It involved firing three spacecraft (command module, service module, and lunar module) aboard one Saturn V rocket into Earth orbit. Once there, the last stage of the Saturn boosted the spacecraft on a lunar trajectory and eventually into orbit. Only the lunar module would go down to the surface. It would then return and redock with the orbiting command module in the top-half of the lunar module (leaving the lower-half on the moon). The astronauts would return to Earth in the command module while the remainder of the lunar module was ejected into space.
Academy Brief: Introducing ASK News
August 26, 2013 // by

The Academy’s monthly newsletter ASK the Academy has transitioned to an updated “news as it happens” format.

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