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Space Travel

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

Why Interest in Space Travel Waned After Apollo 11

After the success of Apollo 11, NASA unveiled an ambitious agenda for more missions into space, but interest among the public was beginning to decline

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

How Neil Armstrong Trained to Land the Lunar Module

To prepare him for landing the lunar module, Neil Armstrong practiced on a training vehicle right here on Earth

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev talking with President John F. Kennedy during Vienna Summit.

Imagining a World Where Soviets and Americans Joined Hands on the Moon

Before he was assassinated, JFK spoke of a cooperative effort in space

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

NASA’s First Chimp in Space

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Why the UAE’s Mars Mission Is the Arab World’s Moon Shot

In July 2020, ahead of the period of time when Mars and Earth are at their closest, the UAE will launch its first Mars orbiter mission

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Meet the New Generation Driving the UAE’s Space Program

In 2020, the UAE will launch a Mars space probe expected to reach the Red Planet by 2021 in time for the UAE’s 50th anniversary

A rendering of the Hope probe leaving Earth

10 Things You Should Know About the UAE Space Program

In 2006, the UAE began establishing knowledge transfer programs in preparation of a grand vision: to go to Mars

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

Future of Space Exploration

How a Toaster-Sized Atomic Clock Could Pave the Way for Deep Space Exploration

NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock is now orbiting Earth for a year-long test run

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

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

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

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Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

We Chose to Go to the Moon

A collection of stories to celebrate the semicentennial of the Apollo 11 mission

The Smithsonian has completed its multi-year conservation project of the Neil Armstrong spacesuit, digitizing the historic Apollo artifact so that soon authentically realized duplicates can be downloaded for study and appreciation.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

In Celebration of 50 Years Since the Moon Landing, Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit Set to Return to Public View

Duplicates of the 3D scanned historic Apollo artifact will also tour Major League ballparks this summer

To all the looney lunar landing deniers and conspiracy theorists out there, NASA has just four words to say: "Apollo: Yes, We Did."

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

Yes, the United States Certainly DID Land Humans on the Moon

Moon-landing deniers, says space scholar and former NASA chief historian Roger Launius, are full of stuff and nonsense

Francis Rogallo (above, in 1959 in a wind tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia) along with his wife Gertrude, originally conceived of their paraglider in the mid-1940s to make aviation more practical and economically available to more aviators.

The Paraglider That NASA Could Have Used, but Didn’t, to Bring Astronauts Back to Earth

Francis Rogallo’s invention would have brought returning space vehicles in for a runway landing, instead of an ocean splashdown

NASA astronaut Christina Koch conducts botany research aboard the International Space Station, where she’s been living and working since March 14, 2019. Her mission has been extended, and she will remain at the station until February 2020.

Future of Space Exploration

Christina Koch Is Scheduled to Spend 328 Days in Space—a Record for Women Astronauts

‘It feels awesome,’ Koch said of the milestone

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