Articles tagged as NASA | Smithsonian Magazine

This grapefruit-sized object is Vanguard TV-3, an exact replica of Vanguard 1 that failed to launch into orbit. It's now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

The World’s First Solar-Powered Satellite is Still Up There After More Than 60 Years

This tiny grapefruit-sized satellite will still be up there well into the 2100s if we don’t take it down

March 17, 2017

This 230-foot-tall antenna helped NASA locate a long-lost spacecraft.

Cool Finds

NASA Spots India’s Long-Lost Lunar Orbiter

Chandrayaan-1 had been missing for eight years

March 14, 2017

Take in the spectacular view with a new VR simulation of the International Space Station.

Virtual Travel

Take a Virtual Trip to the International Space Station

New VR simulation turns you into an orbiting astronaut

March 13, 2017

The little moon has drawn comparisons to ravioli, empanadas, and hamburger.

Cool Finds

One of Saturn’s Moons is Making Astronomers Hungry

New images of the tiny moon are drawing comparisons to a ravioli, empanadas, walnuts, hamburgers…nom, nom, nom

March 10, 2017

Cool Finds

Why (Part of) the International Space Station Will Soon Be the Coldest Place in the Universe

An icebox-like lab will help scientists get a grip on a phenomenon that’s hard to spot on Earth

March 8, 2017

First image from NASA's Geostationary Lightning Tracker

Part of the GOES-16 weather satellite, the geosynchronous imager promises to improve storm detection and reveal the secrets of thunderbolts

March 8, 2017

Space weather may look cool, but it could hurt astronauts.

New Research

When it Comes to Predicting Solar Storms, Space May Not Be the Place

A new study shows that earth-based observations can get warnings out sooner

March 6, 2017

This lumpy moon would have made short work of NASA's MAVEN craft.

Left unattended, MAVEN and Phobos could have collided

March 3, 2017

Margaret Hamilton, Katherine Johnson, Sally Ride, Nancy Grace Roman, Mae Jemison

Cool Finds

LEGO Is Making a Women of NASA Set

The toy company selected Maia Weinstock’s proposal to celebrate the space agency’s female pioneers during its Lego Ideas competition

March 1, 2017

What thorny ethical issues await us once we make it to Mars? A composite image of the red planet, composed by processing about 1000 Viking Orbiter red- and violet-filter images have been to provide global color coverage at a scale of 1 km/pixel.

Think Big

When Humans Begin Colonizing Other Planets, Who Should Be in Charge?

The biggest threat humans pose to other worlds is what we don’t know—or what we think we know, but don’t

March 1, 2017

Unlike the Apollo spacecraft, Orion will have solar panels to help power longer space journeys, as shown in this concept art of the spacecraft orbiting Earth.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

What’s Really Changed—and What Hasn’t—About Getting Humans to the Moon

NASA’s Orion will combine vintage tech with massive advances in computing power and electronics we’ve made since 1972

February 28, 2017

Ceres is much more than a rotating rock.

New Research

Organic Material Found on Ceres Hints at Potential for Life

Scientists are fired up about these building blocks of life

February 17, 2017

Astronaut Twin Study Shows How Hard Space Is on the Body

The study’s first results suggest that space travel can cause changes on the molecular level

February 1, 2017

This image shows a region in Saturn's outer B ring. NASA's Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before. And from this view, it is clear that there are still finer details to uncover. Researchers have yet to determine what generated the rich structure seen in this view, but they hope detailed images like this will help them unravel the mystery.

Cool Finds

NASA Releases Spectacular New Snapshots of Saturn’s Rings

Millions of moonlets appear to be tucked inside the debris that famously circles the planet

February 1, 2017

Here's what Earth looked like on January 15.

Check Out Breathtaking Images From NOAA’s Newest Satellite

In a word: wow

January 26, 2017

From left to right, the astronauts of Apollo 1: Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee.

The Legacy of the Apollo 1 Disaster

Fifty years after a fire killed three astronauts and temporarily grounded U.S. space exploration, a new exhibit honors the fallen crew

January 25, 2017

2016 broke temperature records on land and sea, report both NOAA and NASA.

Trending Today

2016 Was the Hottest Year Ever Recorded

Never in modern memory has the Earth’s surface and sea temperature been so high

January 19, 2017

Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan inside the lunar module on the moon after his second moonwalk of the mission. His spacesuit is covered with lunar dust.

His experience helped make spaceflight safer

January 17, 2017

A special fish tank designed for experiments aboard the International Space Station.

New Research

Fish Don’t Do So Well in Space

The International Space Station’s resident fish shed light on life in microgravity

January 16, 2017

After successfully deploying ten satellites into orbit, the rocket’s first stage adeptly landed on a floating platform

January 16, 2017