NASA History

03/14/2025

"I didn’t have any idea how… profoundly revealing the Hubble observations would be. But I remember thinking, 'This is really going to be special.'” –Dr. Steven A. Hawley

As we get ready to celebrate the NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's 35th anniversary in space, we present a new collection of oral history transcripts sharing the experiences of the leaders, scientists, engineers, and astronauts who contributed to the mission. Check it out! https://go.nasa.gov/3DlIh2X

03/13/2025

03/13/2025

A moment captured on canvas

In 1962, NASA's administrator implemented an art program—artists were invited to capture the historic events of the space program. One of the acclaimed artists who participated was Norman Rockwell, who created this painting of Gemini III astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young suiting up for their mission. Compare his painting with some of NASA's photos of the prelaunch suiting up activities taken 60 years ago.

More about the NASA Art Program: https://go.nasa.gov/43E8xA6

03/12/2025

"It’s up to you. You go do it."

Those were the instructions to Jack Kinzler who was put in charge of creating celebratory symbols for the Apollo 11 lunar landing. In our new edition of NASA History News & Notes, read about his work creating the U.S. flag and the plaque that remain on the Moon to this day! https://go.nasa.gov/3Dwt0w9

Other topics in the spring issue include:
• NASA's 1967 Class of Astronauts
• Historic Experiments in Airborne Astronomy
• NASA's Aircraft Consolidation Efforts in the 1990s
• Lightning Observations from Space: 1965–1982
• The Founding of the NACA
• The DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory

03/12/2025

10 years ago today, the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission was launched to study the physics of magnetic reconnection in space. A year later in 2016, it broke a world record for the highest altitude fix of a GPS signal when it was 43,500 miles above Earth's surface.

This record was recently broken by the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) aboard the Blue Ghost lander. On March 3, LuGRE acquired GPS signals from the Moon!

Read more about this achievement and its implications for future lunar exploration: https://go.nasa.gov/3FyC18o

03/11/2025

03/11/2025

Slow ride. Take it easy…

While the Apollo 9 mission was wrapping up in 1969, the Apollo 10 rocket made its way to Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B ahead of its May 18 launch. When carrying a rocket, the crawler-transporter moved at a top speed of 1 mile per hour. 🐌

03/10/2025

in 1948, Herbert Hoover became the first civilian and second pilot to break the sound barrier.

During his 11th flight aboard the Bell XS-1, Hoover’s aircraft reached Mach 1.065, approximately 703 miles per hour. Hoover first joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in Hampton, Virginia, in 1940, and while there, flew more than 100 different aircraft.

In 1947, he initiated the NACA flight operations of the Bell XS-1 when the U.S. Air Force-NACA transonic flight research program began at the Muroc Flight Test Unit in California, now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center.

NASA History | NASA Aeronautics

03/09/2025

A meatball: when ingredients come together to create a round nugget that transcends the sum of its parts.

Do you know what components make up NASA's historic meatball logo? Find out their symbolism: https://go.nasa.gov/3XsOHnC

03/07/2025

in 2002, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument was installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 3B. Many of Hubble's most extraordinary images were taken with the instrument's Wide Field Channel, including the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. https://go.nasa.gov/4i5VmME

Photo: STS-109 astronauts James H. Newman and Michael J. Massimino remove the Faint Object Camera from the Hubble Space Telescope, secured in Space Shuttle Columbia's payload bay, in order to make room for the new ACS instrument.

03/07/2025

Have you heard of lunar horizon glow?

This phenomenon in which tiny dust particles in the Moon's thin atmosphere create a glow at lunar sunrise and sunset was noted by Apollo astronauts while orbiting the Moon. Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan captured his observations of the glow prior to the lunar sunrise with these handwritten notes.

03/06/2025

Sixteen years ago, NASA launched its first planet hunting mission: the Kepler space telescope. When it was conceived of, there wasn't a single confirmed exoplanet. Over Kepler's 9 years of service, it discovered over 2,600.

Today, our count stands at over 5,800. https://go.nasa.gov/43qy5k7

03/06/2025

These suits are made for walking… on the Moon! 🧑‍🚀

in 1969, Apollo 9's Lunar Module pilot Russell "Rusty" Schweickart performed the first spacewalk of the Apollo program: a 47-minute spacewalk to test the new Apollo Portable Life Support System (PLSS) for use on the lunar landing missions. It marked the first time an astronaut had exited a U.S. spacecraft using a self-contained life support system. https://go.nasa.gov/41Hzfqd

📷 Schweickart's spacewalk as seen by David Scott in the Apollo 9 Command Module.

03/03/2025

A seed sown 110 years ago

Today we celebrate the 110th birthday of NASA’s predecessor—the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The NACA was founded by Congress and for over 40 years was home to some of the nation’s best and brightest aeronautical engineers as well as world-class facilities. Its cutting-edge research facilities and techniques helped develop America’s flight capabilities for military and commercial uses.

Building on the foundation the NACA had set, NASA was created in 1958 and carried this legacy forward to explore new frontiers in the air and in space for the benefit of all.

Celebrate the NACA's transformative achievements in flight technology with our new video series: https://youtu.be/lVckl1YF_E4

Video imagery: A montage of subtly animated black and white photographs from the birth of the NACA through NASA’s early projects in the 1960s illustrates the agency’s people, the work, and facilities as they developed over the years. Credit: NASA

03/02/2025

Launched 30 years ago , the primary payload of STS-67 was the Astro-2 observatory which included 3 ultraviolet telescopes. The crew worked around the clock for the 16-day mission to complete observations of more than 100 celestial objects.

More: 🔭 https://go.nasa.gov/4ihKFqh

02/28/2025

"The Control Center today ... is a reflection of Chris Kraft". –Glynn Lunney

Today on the 101st anniversary of his birth we remember Christopher Kraft, who was instrumental in establishing NASA's Mission Control Center.

In 1945, Kraft was hired as an aeronautical engineer by NASA's predecessor, the NACA, and over the next 37 years, he played an enormous role in its human spaceflight program. Learn more about his life: https://go.nasa.gov/41uECZz

02/27/2025

Paving the way for the Space Shuttle

in 1970, NASA pilot Bill Dana flew the HL-10 lifting body to 90,030 feet, setting the altitude record for the lifting body program.

This aircraft flew 37 times between 1966 and 1970. The HL-10 achieved the highest altitude and fastest speed of all the aircraft in the lifting body program. https://go.nasa.gov/41uhpa5