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This Month in NASA History

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In January 1961, engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center prepared the massive first stage of the Saturn I rocket for checkout. The booster was designed with eight clustered H-1 engines capable of producing as much as 1.5 million pounds of thrust. Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: The First Saturn Rocket Launch
October 16, 2024 // by

Saturn I-A was the bold first step in a giant technological leap.

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The surface of the Moon captured by Lunar Orbiter 3. The Lunar Orbiter program took more than 3,000 images of the Moon, which helped NASA program managers, scientists, and mission managers identify the landing sites for Apollo lunar landings. Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: The Lunar Orbiter Missions
August 8, 2024 // by

A young geologist catalogs thousands of photos of the lunar surface and helps to identify key landing zones for the Apollo program.

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Apollo 11 CapCom Charles M. Duke, Jr., left, with astronauts James A. Lovell, Jr., center, and Fred W. Haise, Jr. during the first human lunar landing on July 20, 1969. Photo Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: CapCom for Apollo 11
July 9, 2024 // by

Duke talks Armstrong and Aldrin through communications issues, alarms, and a dwindling fuel supply to help them reach the lunar surface.

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In June of 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin prepare to practice spacewalk techniques, walking over a simulated lunar surface in a facility at what is now NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Photo Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: The ‘Third One Down’
June 11, 2024 // by

In June 1969, NASA charges Apollo 11 with a single, straightforward objective — Perform a manned lunar landing and return.

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Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel perform the first of five spacewalks scheduled on STS-125 to upgrade and extend the working life of the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: The Hubble Repairman’s Last Visit
May 13, 2024 // by

The crew of STS-125 make repairs and upgrades to the revolutionary telescope, expanding its capabilities and extending its operational lifespan.

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This Hubble image shows the star cluster NGC 1850, located about 160,000 light-years away. For this image, two filters were used with the camera to gather data, one at visible wavelengths the other at near-infrared wavelengths. Following chromatic order, the shorter wavelength visible light data is blue, while the longer near-infrared data is red. Credit: NASA, ESA and P. Goudfrooij
This Month in NASA History: Hubble’s Journey to Launch
April 17, 2024 // by

In an obscure paper, a prominent astrophysicist advocates for using rapidly advancing rocket technology to launch a massive telescope into space.

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Dr. Nancy Grace Roman records data from a computer display at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, circa 1972. In 1959, she became the first female executive and the first Chief of Astronomy at NASA. Photo Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: A Pioneer Begins
March 12, 2024 // by

Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief of astronomy, blazes a trail for the Hubble Space Telescope decades before launch. 

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This detailed, all-sky picture of the infant universe was created from nine years of data gathered by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The image reveals 13.77 billion year old temperature fluctuations (shown as color differences) that correspond to the seeds that grew to become the galaxies. Credit: NASA
This Month in NASA History: A Turning Point in Cosmology
February 15, 2024 // by

WMAP mission releases stunning map of the Cosmic Microwave Background, a “baby picture” of the Universe.

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This Month in NASA History: Opportunity’s Hole in One
January 11, 2024 // by

Rover quickly finds stunning evidence that Mars was once a warmer planet shaped by significant amounts of surface water.

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