Lockheed Martin technicians and engineers attach the heat shield to the Orion crew module inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers have installed the largest heat shield ever constructed on the crew module of the agency’s Orion spacecraft. […]
Space Exploration
Photo Feature: Meet The SpaceX Dragon V2 Spacecraft
SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk unveiled the Dragon V2 during a ceremony for the new spacecraft inside SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. The spacecraft is designed to carry people into Earth’s orbit and was developed in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability agreement. SpaceX is one of NASA’s […]
NASA Readies Futuristic “Flying Saucer” For Flight Over Hawaii
UPDATE: Due to weather conditions, there will be no launch of the LDSD test vehicle June 4 or 5. Other potential launch dates include June 7, 9, 11 and 14. The decision to move forward with another launch attempt of the LDSD test is made the day before each launch opportunity date. NASA’s flying saucer-shaped […]
SpaceX Unveils Next-Generation Manned Dragon Spacecraft
With just a bit of Hollywood-esque flash, SpaceX unveiled the long-awaited passenger-carrying version of their Dragon spacecraft Thursday during a ceremony at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. In front of a gathering of media, employees and invited guests, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk lifted the curtain on the upgraded capsule known as Dragon Version 2, […]
NASA Outlines Future Path To Human Mars Exploration
I will join 11 senior NASA officials in a public forum about NASA’s exploration path to Mars. This will be another important opportunity for members of the NASA Family to learn how all of our exploration resources are being leveraged to support our bold human missions to an asteroid and Mars. As you all know, […]
NASA’s Morpheus Lander Soars Over Kennedy Space Center As Tests Continue
NASA’s Morpheus lander testbed resumed testing following a break for the Christmas holiday, making its fifth successful free-flight on January 16 at Kennedy Space Center. The 57-second test began at 1:15 p.m. EST with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending about 187 feet, nearly doubling the target ascent […]
NASA’s Resurrected Infrared Telescope Captures First Images, Prepares To Hunt Asteroids
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE), a spacecraft that made the most comprehensive survey to date of asteroids and comets, has returned its first set of test images in preparation for a renewed mission.
NASA’s Next Mars Lander Gets A Launch Vehicle
NASA has selected United Launch Services LLC of Centennial, Colo., to launch the Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission to Mars. InSight will launch in March 2016 aboard an Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA InSight Fact Sheet InSight […]
NASA’s Juno Photographs Spectacular Views Of Earth And Moon During Flyby
When NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew past Earth on Oct. 9, 2013, it received a boost in speed of more than 8,800 mph (about 3.9 kilometers per second), which set it on course for a July 4, 2016, rendezvous with Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. One of Juno’s sensors, a special kind of […]
China Successfully Launches First Lunar Lander Chang’e 3
A Long March 3B rocket blasted off from the mountains of southern China today, carrying with it the first spacecraft intended to land on the Moon since 1976 (the Soviet Union’s Luna 24). Nestled inside the Chang’e 3 spacecraft is a 260 pound rover named Yutu, China’s first land-mobile explorer. Chang’e 3 follows the country’s […]





