NASA
NASA’s Asteroid Heist: The Challenges of TAG
NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, will make a daring attempt to “TAG” asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20 – touch its surface and collect a sample for return to Earth. Sample site Nightingale, the mission’s targeted touch...
NASA
NASA | STEREO Solar Conjunction
Since February 2011, the two spacecraft of NASA's the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory or STEREO mission have been providing scientists with unprecedented views of the far side of the sun. The spacecraft travel at different...
NASA
NASA | Senator Mikulski Celebrates Hubble Success
The Hubble Space Telescope has been with us for nearly two decades. In that time, its breathtaking images have captured peoples imaginations and its groundbreaking science has revealed some of the many secrets of our universe. After five...
NASA
NASA | Playing Tag With an Asteroid
What's the best way get a sample of an asteroid? Play tag with it! That's the plan for OSIRIS-REx, a NASA spacecraft that will approach the asteroid Bennu in 2018. The collection will be done with an instrument on board called the...
NASA
How OSIRIS-REx will Steer Itself to Sample an Asteroid
In late August, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will navigate to asteroid Bennu’s surface for its first sample collection attempt. To do this, it will use an onboard image software known as Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) — a form of optical...
NASA
Surprises from Asteroid Bennu
The OSIRIS-REx team has already pushed the boundaries of scientific exploration -- going from ground-based radar images from Arecibo in Puerto Rico all the way to orbiting a few hundred meters from asteroid Bennu. The team is mere months...
NASA
OSIRIS-REx Leaves its Mark on Bennu
Like boot prints on the Moon, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft left its mark on asteroid Bennu. Now, new images — taken during the spacecraft's final fly-over on April 7, 2021 — reveal the aftermath of the historic Touch-and-Go (TAG) sample...
NASA
OSIRIS-REx: Above and Beyond
Since arriving at asteroid Bennu in Dec. 2018, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has achieved many feats – from setting a record-breaking orbit, to mapping the asteroid’s surface better than any planetary body. The mission is now preparing to...
NASA
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Approaches Asteroid Bennu
NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission launched in 2016 and now (August, 2018) is entering its approach phase. OSIRIS-REx will arrive at asteroid Bennu in December, 2018. OSIRIS-REx will help unveil the mysteries of our solar...
NASA
NASA | STEREO reveals the Entire Sun
Launched in October 2006, STEREO traces the flow of energy and matter from the sun to Earth. It also provides unique and revolutionary views of the sun-Earth system. STEREO, when paired with SDO, can now give us the first complete view...
NASA
NASA | THEMIS Discovers Biggest Breach of Earth's Magnetosphere
NASA’s THEMIS mission has overturned a longstanding belief about the interaction between solar particles and Earth’s protective magnetic field. This new discovery could help scientists predict when the solar storms that can disrupt power...
NASA
NASA | Hubble Memorable Moments: Tinkertoy Solution
The Hubble Space Telescope got off to a rocky start when shortly after its April, 1990 deployment, operators found that its high-gain antenna was mysteriously stuck. Hubble team members recall that intense week and how they ultimately...
NASA
NASA | Exploring the Inner Solar System (Part 5/6)
In part 5, Dr. Garvin conveys the amazing past successes of robotic explorations on Mars and what we have to look forward to with the upcoming Mars Science Lab, also known as the Curiosity rover. (Show Description) Chief Scientist of...
NASA
Designing Lucy’s Path to the Trojan Asteroids
Lucy is the first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojans – two swarms of asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit, leading and trailing the giant planet by sixty degrees. These primitive bodies are thought to be the “fossils” of planet...
NASA
NASA | Landsat's Orbit
How long does it take for Landsat 8 to orbit the Earth? Or view the full surface of the globe? Jim Irons, the Project Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center tells you what you want to know. As a Landsat satellite flies over the...
NASA
Hubble Views Jupiter at Opposition
The Hubble Space Telescope observed Jupiter on April 3rd, 2017 - just days before Jupiter is in opposition on April 7th. This new image of Jupiter is part of Hubble's Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy program, which is one of many ways...
Next Animation Studio
Scientists build space probe that uses steam for propulsion
Scientists are building a space probe that could extract water from asteroids and travel indefinitely in space.
NASA
Tour the Plane Giving NASA’s ICON a Ride to Space
Early in the morning of Nov. 7, 2018, NASA launches the Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, a spacecraft that will explore the dynamic region where Earth meets space. ICON launches on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, which is...
NASA
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx: Mission to Bennu
OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. Its goal is to explore near-Earth asteroid Bennu, a remnant from the dawn of the solar system, and to return a sample of Bennu to Earth in 2023. OSIRIS-REx launched in...
NASA
Timing Is Everything
Deputy Systems Engineer Phil Luers explains how ICESat-2’s ATLAS instrument transmitter and receiver subsystems come together to calculate the timing of photons, which, in turn, measure the elevation of ice. Credits: Ryan Fitzgibbons;...
NASA
NASA/NOAA | GOES-P: Mission Overview Video
GOES-P is set to launch in 2010. It will be the last in an improved series of satellites that has helped forecast the development of severe weather for 35 years. Operated by NOAA and launched by NASA, GOES-P will continue providing...
NASA
NASA | Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module Begins Final Cryogenic Test
Engineers place the heart of the James Webb Space Telescope into the Space Environment Simulator, a giant thermal vacuum and cryogenic testing chamber, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. You can find out more...
NASA
NASA | The Van Allen Probes - Instrument Overview
Dr. David Sibeck explains the instruments on the twin Van Allen Probes (formerly the Radiation Belt Storm Probe, RBSP). The Van Allen Probes will explore the Van Allen Radiation Belts in the Earth's magnetosphere. The charged particles...
NASA
Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) Overview
The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) will fly as a hosted payload aboard a Department of Defense spacecraft as part of the Space Test Program (STP-3) mission. LCRD will continue NASA's exploration of laser communications...