NASA

John Glenn, standing top right, looks at a model of the ship that took him to space with other astronauts from the Mercury space program in an undated photograph.

For a Larger-Than-Life Space Icon, John Glenn Was Remarkably Down-to-Earth

Friends and colleagues recall his abiding love for Smithsonian’s work, the history of spaceflight and peanut butter buckeyes

Cassini crosses Saturn's F ring once on each of its 20 Ring-Grazing Orbits, shown here in tan and lasting from late November 2016 to April 2017. Blue represents the extended solstice mission orbits, which precede the ring-grazing phase.

In Its Final Hurrah, Cassini Will Swoop Past Saturn’s Rings

The craft will take one last look at the ringed planet before diving into its depths

Astronauts enjoy a Thanksgiving feast on the International Space Station in 2014. Turns out that modern space food is something to be grateful for.

What Do Astronauts Eat on Thanksgiving?

It’s not as bad as you might think

Mercury's Great Valley is the dark blue stripe across the center of the image.

Mercury's Newly-Discovered "Great Valley" Puts Earth's Grand Canyon to Shame

The vast scar across the tiny planet is remarkable in itself—but it also reveals that Mercury may still be tectonically active

Sarah Parcak

Space Archaeologist Sarah Parcak Uses Satellites to Uncover Ancient Egyptian Ruins

The Indiana Jones of low Earth orbit harnesses 21st-century technology to uncover long-buried treasures

Sputnik Planitia is a 325,000-square-mile, ice-covered basin on Pluto.

How the Pull of an Icy “Heart” Sent Pluto’s Poles Wandering

Using New Horizons data, scientists determine that the erstwhile planet has a more dynamic past than we thought

Two natural color images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show the changing appearance of Saturn's north polar region between 2012 and 2016.

The Swirling Storm Above Saturn’s North Pole Changed Colors

The years-long shift may be a sign of changing seasons

First photo from space, 1946

American Scientists Took the First Photo of Earth From Space Using Nazi Rockets

70 years ago, researchers at White Sands Missile Base strapped a movie camera to a V2 rocket to get a bird's-eye view of our planet

Schiaparelli Mars Lander Likely Crashed on Descent

The European Space Agency lost contact with the Schiaparelli probe after it jettisoned its heat shield and deployed its parachute

What to Know About NASA's Historic Astronaut Beach House

The famous bungalow is on track to be repaired by 2018 when SpaceX is hoped to launch humans into space once again

Cedar 7 at take-off

The Bizarre Tale of the Middle East’s First Space Program

In Lebanon, reminders of what could have been still stand

A before-and-after composite shows the lunar surface with a surprising starburst-like jet pattern.

Craters Are Forming on the Moon Faster Than Anyone Predicted

New research digs into the changes on the pockmarked lunar surface

Commercial Modules Are Coming to the International Space Station. But You Can't Visit Anytime Soon

Small, slow steps for private spaceflight

Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on NASA's final space shuttle mission from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 8, 2011.

Many of NASA's Recent Successes Actually Date Back to the Bush Administration

Some leaps, launches and grand plans for the future

Mercury still has a molten core, like Earth does. As Mercury's core slowly cools, the density of that core increases and it gets slightly smaller.

Mercury Is Tectonically Active, Making It Uniquely Like Earth

A whole new picture of Mercury's geologic history emerges, showing its crust is being thrust up and its surface is changing over time

You, Too, Could Own a Copy of the Voyager Golden Record

Ozma records is producing a box set of the album sent into the cosmos to reach out to potential extraterrestrial life

The Evpatoria radio telescope RT-70 and the Long Range Space Communications Center, which were used for one of the most ambitious efforts at extraterrestrial communication.

How a Couple of Guys Built the Most Ambitious Alien Outreach Project Ever

You might think it takes vast governmental resources to launch an extraterrestrial communication effort. Nope

Carmel Johnston (left), crew commander, enjoys her first meal outside the dome.

Astronauts Tell All About Their One Year on “Mars”

In an unprecedented simulation, NASA learned that its astronauts are a bunch of overachievers

The forces that formed Pluto's heart may not be romantic, but the feature was love at first sight for scientists.

Scientists Finally Figured Out Why Pluto Has That Icy Heart

The dwarf planet’s geography, atmosphere and chemistry helped form its most famous feature

This NASA-Developed AI Could Help Save Firefighters' Lives

AUDREY, an artificial intelligence system created by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, helps firefighters navigate through blazes

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