NASA History

15 Years Ago: STS-128 Delivers Cargo to Enable Six-Person Space Station Crew

On Aug. 28, 2009, space shuttle Discovery began its 37th trip into space. The 17A mission to the International Space Station was the 30th shuttle flight to the orbiting lab. During the 14-day mission, the seven-member STS-128 crew worked with Expedition 20, the first six-person crew aboard the station, during nine days of docked operations. […]

Posted August 28, 2024

NASA History

Learning Resources

40 Years Ago: President Reagan Announces Teacher in Space Project

On Aug. 27, 1984, President Ronald W. Reagan announced the Teacher in Space project as part of NASA’s Space Flight Participant Program to expand the space shuttle experience to a wider set of private citizens who would communicate the experience to the public. From 11,000 teacher applicants, each of the 50 states and territories selected […]

Posted August 27, 2024

NASA History

Apollo 11

55 Years Ago: Apollo 11 Astronauts End Quarantine, Feted from Coast to Coast

On Aug. 10, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin completed their 21-day quarantine after returning from the Moon.

Posted August 20, 2024

NASA History

55 Years Ago: NASA Group 7 Astronaut Selection

On Aug. 14, 1969, NASA announced the selection of seven new astronauts. The Group 7 astronauts consisted of pilots transferred from the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) Program canceled two months earlier. The MOL, a joint project of the U.S.

Posted August 14, 2024

NASA History

Celebrating NASA’s Coast Guard Astronauts on Coast Guard Day

Each Aug. 4, Coast Guard Day commemorates the founding on Aug. 4, 1790, of the U.S. Coast Guard as the Revenue-Marine by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Although considered an internal event for active duty and reserve Coast Guard members, we take the opportunity of Coast Guard Day to honor the astronauts who began […]

Posted August 2, 2024

NASA History

Discovery Program

MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging)

MESSENGER – From Setbacks to Success

The excerpts below are taken from Discovery Program oral history interviews conducted in 2009 by Dr.

Posted August 2, 2024

NASA History

Ranger 7

60 Years Ago: Ranger 7 Photographs the Moon

Long before Apollo astronauts set foot upon the Moon, much remained unknown about the lunar surface. While most scientists believed the Moon had a solid surface that would support astronauts and their landing craft, some believed a deep layer of dust covered it that would swallow any visitors. Until 1964, no closeup photographs of the […]

Posted July 29, 2024

NASA History

55 Years Ago: One Year Before the Moon Landing

In July 1968, much work still remained to meet the goal President John F. Kennedy set in May 1961, to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to the Earth before the end of the decade. No American astronaut had flown in space since the November 1966 flight of Gemini XII, the […]

Posted July 25, 2024

NASA History

25 Years Ago: STS-93, Launch of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

On July 23, 1999, space shuttle Columbia took to the skies on its 26th trip into space, to deliver its heaviest payload ever – the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The STS-93 crew included Commander Eileen M. Collins, the first woman to command a space shuttle mission, Pilot Jeffrey S. Ashby, and Mission Specialists Catherine “Cady” G. […]

Posted July 25, 2024

NASA History

45 Years Ago: Space Shuttle Enterprise Completes Launch Pad Checkout

On July 23, 1979, space shuttle Enterprise completed its time as a pathfinder vehicle at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Workers towed it back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). During its four-month stay at KSC, Enterprise validated procedures for the assembly of the space shuttle stack and interfaces […]

Posted July 24, 2024