Blog

From Hampton to Mars: How NASA Langley Helped Land on the Red Planet

Fifty years ago, NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 landers made the first successful landings on Mars, opening a new era in planetary exploration. Behind that achievement was a team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, whose steady leadership and technical expertise helped turn an ambitious idea into a mission that reshaped how we […]

Posted July 20, 2026

Our First View of the Surface of Mars

“Touchdown, we have touchdown!” At 5:12 a.m. PDT, July 20, 1976, mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in cheers as they learned that the Viking 1 lander had survived its descent through the thin Martian atmosphere. Forty minutes later, the lander’s first image began to appear on their monitors, slowly forming line by […]

Posted July 20, 2026

Earth Observatory

Topography

Shaping the Emerald City

The hills and basins of Seattle, Washington, have been sculpted by glaciers and modified by humans.

Posted July 20, 2026

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Advanced Air Vehicles Program

Aeronautics

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Langley Research Center

Subsonic Flight Demonstrator

Subsonic Vehicle Technologies and Tools

NASA Pushes New Wing Design to Find Structural Limits

NASA researchers recently put a new wing design, appearing long and thin with a lightweight structural design, through a series of grueling tests to find its structural limits. What they found left them encouraged about the wing’s potential, even when they pushed it past its intended limits.

Posted July 18, 2026

The Growing Crescent of Mars as NASA’s Psyche Mission Approaches

Description This composite of images taken by NASA’s Psyche mission shows the crescent of Mars grow as the spacecraft approached the planet for a gravity assist from May 2 to May 15, 2026. The series begins with the smallest crescent at the center of the of the image as Mars is farthest from the spacecraft, and progressively […]

Posted July 18, 2026

Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO)

General

Human Health and Performance

Human System Risks

Humans in Space

The Human Body in Space

Establishing a VTE Risk Score for Astronauts Algorithm

In April 2026, NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO) initiated a working group to review updated VTE case information, additional data gathered revealing altered blood flow status within a cohort of astronauts, and discuss progress of research and clinical activities intended to mitigate the risk of VTE during spaceflight wi

Posted July 18, 2026

Ames Research Center

NASA Awards Facilities Support Services Contract for Ames Research Center

CONTRACT RELEASE NASA has selected Chugach Intelligence Solutions LLC to provide comprehensive operations, maintenance, and repair services for NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The Ames Facilities Support Services II contract ensures that the center’s historic and specialized facilities are properly maintained, fully ope

Posted July 17, 2026

NASA’s Chandra and IXPE Study Pulsar in Lighthouse Nebula

This composite image, released on July 9, 2026, shows the region around a pulsar – a neutron star with a strong magnetic field that spins incredibly fast – within the Lighthouse nebula. The image contains X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple, X-rays from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) in blue, and […]

Posted July 17, 2026

NASA en español

La NASA invita a los medios de comunicación al lanzamiento del telescopio espacial Roman

Read this release in English here. Ya está abierto el plazo de acreditación de los medios de comunicación para el lanzamiento de la misión del telescopio espacial Nancy Grace Roman de la NASA. El lanzamiento del telescopio Roman está programado para no antes de las 7:20 a.m. (hora del este) del domingo 30 de agosto, […]

Posted July 17, 2026

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Commercial Crew

Goddard Space Flight Center

International Space Station (ISS)

Kennedy Space Center

Missions

NASA Invites Media to Roman Space Telescope, Crew-13 Launches

Media accreditation now is open for the launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the agency’s SpaceX Crew-13 missions, both targeting launch in the coming months. The Roman telescope is slated to launch no earlier than 7:20 a.m. EDT Sunday, Aug. 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at […]

Posted July 17, 2026