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Outer Space

A rendering of the 363-foot Saturn V projection

Future of Space Exploration

Watch the Apollo 11 Anniversary Show That Was Projected Onto the Washington Monument

The immersive experience combined full-motion projection-mapping artwork and archival footage

Ice at the Martian pole. The dark spots are pockets of warming under the ice.

Future of Space Exploration

This Material May Make Human Habitation on Mars Possible

Silica aerogel traps heat and allows light in while blocking ultraviolet radiation, making it a good candidate for building human settlements

Neil Armstrong (left) and Buzz Aldrin (right) document a sample during a field trip at Sierra Blanca in west Texas on February 24, 1969.

Future of Space Exploration

Before Going to the Moon, Apollo 11 Astronauts Trained at These Five Sites

From Arizona to Hawaii, these landscapes—similar in ways to the surface of the moon—were critical training grounds for the crew

In 2019, 50 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit stands as one of the most significant artifacts in the world.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

Neil Armstrong’s Restored Spacesuit Put Back on Display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

The spacesuit, which Armstrong wore when he walked on the moon during Apollo 11, is available for public viewing and as a 3-D model online

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin works at the deployed Passive Seismic Experiment Package on July 20, 1969. To the left of the United States flag in the background is the lunar surface television camera.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

The Best Books About the Apollo Program and Landing on the Moon

From astronaut autobiographies to definitive accounts from leading historians, these are the must reads about the landmark mission

Future of Space Exploration

First Moon-Forming Disk Detected Swirling Around an Exoplanet

Telescope observations suggest that a cloud of gas and dust around a planet 370 light-years away may be coalescing into planet-sized moons

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

Restored Apollo Mission Control Center Brings the Moon Landing Era to Life

Decommissioned in 1992, the site is now open to public tours

Ann Montgomery, lead crew systems engineer during the Apollo program, on the swing arm of the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center with other NASA employees, circa 1970.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

At 21, Ann Montgomery Became a Lead Engineer at NASA, Managing the Cameras and Other Crucial Gear Used on the Moon

Montgomery worked closely with the Apollo astronauts to train them to use handheld tools and equipment on the moon

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Future of Space Exploration

Future of Space Exploration

To boldly go where no humans have gone before

Dragonfly will explore dozens of locations across the icy moon

Trending Today

NASA’s Dragonfly Mission Will Fly Through the Clouds of Titan, Saturn’s Biggest Moon

Over the course of its initial 2.7-year mission exploring Titan, the dual-quadcopter will fly a combined total of more than 108 miles

Future of Space Exploration

Astronauts Capture Stunning Image of Volcano Erupting for the First Time in 95 Years

The ash plumes from Raikoke reach 42,700 feet

Though photons do not have mass, they do transfer momentum when they reflect off a reflective space sail, giving it a slight boost.

Future of Space Exploration

LightSail 2 Launches to Space to Soar on the Power of Sunshine

The Planetary Society’s second solar sail will attempt to use sunlight to fly through space

Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, July 24, 1969

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

How Neil, Buzz and Mike Got Their Workouts in on Their Way to the Moon and Back

To counter the effects of weightlessness, NASA equipped Apollo 11 with an Exer-Genie for isometric exercises

Anaxagoras, who lived in the fifth century B.C., was one of the first people in recorded history to recognize that the moon was a rocky, mountainous body.

An Ancient Greek Philosopher Was Exiled for Claiming the Moon Was a Rock, Not a God

2,500 years ago, Anaxagoras correctly determined that the rocky moon reflects light from the sun, allowing him to explain lunar phases and eclipses

Future of Space Exploration

The International Space Station Is Open for Business—and Tourists

NASA is relaxing its restrictions on commercial activities on the ISS as part of an effort to free up funding for other projects

A field photo showing the impact deposit containing deformed pink sandstone.

An Ancient Asteroid Crater May Be Hiding Off Scotland’s Coast

Scientists think they have honed in on the spot where the collision occurred 1.2 billion years ago

Artist's rendering of the planets orbiting PDS 70.

Future of Space Exploration

Astronomers Snap a Rare Picture of Two Baby Planets

The Very Large Telescope imaged Planets PDS 70b and PDS 70c about 370 light years away creating a gap in the gas and dust disk around their star

The Museum of the Moon is just one of many events taking place across the United States celebrating the 50th anniversary of landing on the moon.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

A Cross-Country Guide to Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

It’s been half a century since humankind touched down on the surface of the moon, and we’re not done praising the feat

The sixty Starlink satellites before being deployed.

Future of Space Exploration

Astronomers Worry New SpaceX Satellite Constellation Could Impact Research

The first of SpaceX’s 12,000 Starlink broadband satellites launched last week, raising fears they could interfere with ground-based telescopes

This lunar extravehicular visor assembly, photographed by Cade Martin at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar- Hazy Center, was worn by Neil Armstrong on the Moon in July 1969. Armstrong’s helmet visors were designed to protect against hazards, from micrometeoroids to infrared light.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

What You Didn’t Know About the Apollo 11 Mission

From JFK’s real motives to the Soviets’ secret plot to land on the Moon at the same time, a new behind-the-scenes view of an unlikely triumph 50 years ago

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