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National Air and Space Museum

A digital art illustration of the gold and black spacecraft firing its white thrusters to maneuver near a dark, rocky moon, with the reddish surface of Mars visible in the background.

Can a Japanese Spacecraft Unlock the Mystery of Mars' Twin Moons?

Searching for clues on Phobos and Deimos.

An uncrewed spacecraft with three main components is seen orbiting above an asteroid.

An Innovative Spacecraft Makes Contact With an Asteroid

A new book tells the story of the mastermind who directed NASA’s daring OSIRIS-REx mission

A massive atmospheric vortex on Jupiter is a dizzying swirl of brown, yellow, and green clouds that form a deep tunnel.

Scientists Strive to Explain the Strange Weather on Other Planets

What the swirling storms on alien worlds can tell us about the climate on Earth.

The smooth surface of a round planet is partially illuminated by the sun; the planet's other half is in shadow. The planet is surrounded by thousands of rings.

The Weird, Wild and Wonderful Universe, According to the Internet's Favorite Astronomer

Air & Space Quarterly talks to The Bad Astronomer Phil Plait

A stunning panorama of the Martian desert with a twilight sky. The landscape appears light rust and dull blue and is covered with boulders. A hill can be seen on the right.

For 20 years, Robots Have Inhabited Mars. What Keeps Them Humming?

NASA’s robotic exploration team has proven they have the right stuff

Vera Rubin and Kent Ford (white hat) setting up their image tube spectrograph at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. (Photo: THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE)

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and Women of Chilean Astronomy

The Vara C. Rubin Observatory is perched on Chile's Cerro Pachon in the foothills of the Andes Mountains and stands as a doorway to exploring the women of Chilean astronomy.

The Perseverance captured this image of itself and the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter days before its maiden flight. (NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ ASU/ MSSS/ Seán Doran)

The Wright Moment: Ingenuity Prepares for Flight

Ingenuity, the small, four-pound autonomous aircraft, will attempt the biggest of feats. The Wright brothers lifted their 1903 Wright Flyer off the ground over a century ago, and now the Mars helicopter will attempt the same. Ginny took off from the surface of the Red Planet on Monday, April 19.

Artist’s conception of the Perseverance rover sampling rocks on the floor of Jezero crater. The rover also carries the Ingenuity helicopter (not shown) that can fly in advance of the rover and scout out high priority rocks and outcrops for the rover to visit. (NASA)

Is There Life on Mars?

To get the answer, we have to know what to look for and where to go on the planet for evidence of past life. With the Perseverance rover set to land on Mars on February 18, we are finally in a position to know.

Artist’s rendition of Ingenuity flying on Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Driving Mars Exploration: How the Perseverance Rover Will Pave a Path into the Future

It’s been nearly 60 years since the first spacecraft were sent to Mars, and it’s inspiring to reflect on the progress that has been made since then. If all goes according to plan, the landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will mark the start of NASA’s ninth surface mission on the Red Planet.

Perseverance Rover on Mars ( NASA Illustration)

Six Ways to Celebrate Perseverance This February

Be a part of NASA's Perseverance rover landing this February with these six ways to celebrate the mission to Mars.

Two prominent lobate thrust fault scarps on Mercury, Discovery Rupes and Beagles Rupes, imaged by Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on the MESSENGER spacecraft. Discovery Rupes (left), named for the ship HMS Discovery, shown here in a MDIS high-incidence angle image mosaic, was first imaged by Mariner 10 in the mid-1970’s. Beagle Rupes (right), a bow-shaped fault scarp, was initial imaged during MESSENGER’s first flyby.

Mercury, The Not So Shrunken Planet

Based on my research, which include image composites of two flyby views of Mercury from the MESSENGER spacecraft, I conclude that Mercury has not cooled and shrunken as much as previously thought.

A low-lying topographic depression known as Margaritifer basin. (Sharon A. Wilson, John A. Grant, and Kevin K. Williams (2020), Geologic Map of Morava Valles and Margaritifer basin, Mars, MTM Quadrangles -10022 and -15022, 1:500,000 scale, USGS Scientific Investigations Map, in press.)

Geologic Maps: Where Science Meets Art

Geologic maps are used to locate natural resources, such as water or oil, or the best place to hunt for fossils, but they can also be eye catching works of art.

The waxing gibbous Moon as we viewed it on December 3, 2011.

The Moon: Before We Knew

Reading Mark Wick’s novel To Mars Via the Moon words motivated reflection on how our thinking of the Moon changed as real-life science and technology has evolved, in contrast to science ficton.

Portrait of science fiction author Ray Bradbury. (Copyright © V. Tony Hauser, Courtesy The Ray Bradbury Literary Works, LLC.)

Gaining Inspiration from The Martian Chronicles

August 22, 2020, is the 100th anniversary of science fiction author Ray Bradbury’s birth. To honor the centennial, Museum geologist John Grant reflects on Bradbury’s impact on his career studying Mars.

Artist's concept of Mars 2020 rover with sample tubes.

Why NASA Is Headed Back to Mars with Mars Rover Perseverance

Mars is about to have a new resident: Mars rover Perseverance. Learn more about the latest mission to Mars — and what we hope to learn.

The Hope spacecraft of the United Arab Emirates' Emirates Mars Mission during testing.

Launching Hope to Mars

Museum director Ellen Stofan reflects on the significance of the United Arab Emirates upcoming mission to Mars.

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