NASA History

15 Years Ago: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Begins Moon Mapping Mission

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) launched together from Cape Canaveral Air Force, now Space Force, Station on June 18, 2009, atop an Atlas V launch vehicle.

Posted June 18, 2024

NASA History

Flag Day 2024 – One Small Flag’s Incredible Journey

This article tells the story of one small American flag fortunate enough to be singled out from a group of one thousand flags just like it and embark on an incredible journey. The other 999 flags likely ended up as gifts, but this one flag had a loftier fate. It wasn’t the first American flag […]

Posted June 13, 2024

NASA History

55 Years Ago: Manned Orbiting Laboratory Cancellation

The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), a joint classified project of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), sought to establish a crewed platform in low Earth orbit to obtain high-resolution photographic imagery of America’s 1960s Cold War adversaries.

Posted June 11, 2024

NASA History

55 Years Ago: Star Trek Final Episode Airs, Relationship with NASA Endures

The voyages of the Starship Enterprise came to a sudden and premature end on June 3, 1969, with the airing of the final episode of the Star Trek original television series. Ironically, the show’s cancellation came just six weeks before humanity embarked on its first voyage to land on another celestial body. Although the show […]

Posted June 4, 2024

NASA History

STS-96

25 Years Ago: STS-96 Resupplies the Space Station

On May 27, 1999, the second space station assembly and logistics mission began. The main goals of STS-96, designated as the 2A.1 mission in the overall assembly sequence, included resupplying and repairing the fledgling orbital facility, consisting of the Zarya and Node 1 modules assembled during STS-88 in December 1998.

Posted May 29, 2024

NASA History

15 Years Ago: First Time all Partners Represented aboard the International Space Station

From May 29 to July 17, 2009, for the first time in its history, each of the five partner agencies participating in the International Space Station Program had a crew member living and working aboard the orbiting facility at the same time. The period also marked the beginning of six-person crew habitation, greatly increasing the […]

Posted May 28, 2024

NASA History

40 Years Ago: NASA Selects its 10th Group of Astronauts

On May 23, 1984, NASA announced the selection of its 10th group of astronauts. Chosen from nearly 5,000 applicants, the group comprised 17 astronaut candidates – seven pilots and 10 mission specialists – and included three women and one Hispanic American. They reported for duty on July 2 to begin their year-long training period to […]

Posted May 23, 2024

NASA History

Apollo

55 Years Ago: Two Months Until the Moon Landing

The march to the first Moon landing took a giant leap forward in May 1969 with the successful completion of Apollo 10, essentially a dress rehearsal for the landing mission. During their eight-day flight, the all-veteran Apollo 10 crew of Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan rehearsed nearly every aspect of […]

Posted May 20, 2024

NASA History

STS-125

15 Years Ago: STS-125, the Final Hubble Servicing Mission

“Trying to do stellar observations from Earth is like trying to do birdwatching from the bottom of a lake.” James B. Odom, Hubble Program Manager 1983-1990. The fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, placed in orbit in 1990, took place during the STS-125 mission in May 2009. During the 13-day flight, […]

Posted May 13, 2024

NASA History

20 Years Ago: NASA Selects its 19th Group of Astronauts

On May 6, 2004, NASA announced the selection of its 19th group of astronauts. The group comprised 11 candidates – two pilots, six mission specialists, and three educator mission specialists – and included two women, two Hispanic Americans, and one African American.

Posted May 8, 2024