Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

NASA

Cool Finds

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.

New Research

Craters Are Forming on the Moon Faster Than Anyone Predicted

New research digs into the changes on the pockmarked lunar surface

Trending Today

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.

Trending Today

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

Cool Finds

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.

Space Hub

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.

New Research

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

Melba Roy led the group of human computers who tracked the Echo satellites in the 1960s.

Women Who Shaped History

The True Story of “Hidden Figures,” the Forgotten Women Who Helped Win the Space Race

A new book and movie document the accomplishments of NASA’s black “human computers” whose work was at the heart of the country’s greatest battles

Delayed InSight Mission to Mars Slated to Launch in 2018

With redesigned equipment, scientists hope to unearth how the Red Planet came to be

An "astronaut" walks outside of the HI-SEAS dome on Mauna Loa.

Trending Today

Crew From NASA’s Yearlong Mars Simulation Finally Emerges From the Dome

Would-be Martians say aloha to a challenging experiment

Cool Finds

After Two Years, Lost NASA Spacecraft Phones Home

Using the Deep Space Network, mission control has reestablished contact with the solar observatory STEREO-B

The first photo of Earth from the moon was taken on August 23, 1966.

Cool Finds

Fifty Years Ago, This Photo Captured the First View of Earth From the Moon

And Earth’s view of itself changed forever

Murray Buttes may look like an earthbound mesa, but there's a difference: It's on Mars.

Cool Finds

Here’s a Panoramic Glimpse of the Curiosity Rover’s Next Destination

Welcome to Murray Buttes. You are now free to rove about the landscape

New Research

Soon Everyone Will Be Able to Read NASA-Funded Research

Get ready for a lot more space science

Abell 370: Galaxy Cluster Gravitational Lens

Think Big

Long After Einstein, Cosmic Lensing Reaches Its Full Potential

How Hubble is taking advantage of Einstein’s theories to study the most distant galaxies

Grab your sunglasses—all of those far-off stars, black holes and celestial bodies contribute to your killer tan.

New Research

Part of Your Suntan Comes From Photons That Are Billions of Years Old

Thank bodies from beyond the galaxy for a bit of that golden glow

Page 35 of 46