NASA released the first color images of the surface of Mars from its new rover Curiosity on Tuesday, showing a dusty, tan desert dominated by the rim of the crater where the craft landed.
Watch animation of Curiosity's journey to the surface of Mars, told through tweets the rover sent en route.
Humanity's curiosity about Mars has led to an exciting event: the dramatic landing of an SUV-sized rover, set for 1:31 a.m. ET Monday.
This weekend, Curiosity lands on Mars. That's the name of a one-ton roving robotic laboratory, part of NASA's four-ton Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft now hurtling toward the planet.
A Russian spacecraft was launched Sunday in Kazakhstan, carrying crew members from three countries to a four-month deployment aboard the International Space Station.
The space shuttle Enterprise made its final descent Wednesday, landing at its new home at New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
CNN's aviation correspondent Lizzy O'Leary has the details on the splash-down of the Dragon capsule in the Pacific.
The first commercial mission to the International Space Station ended Thursday with the SpaceX Dragon capsule splashing down after a flight the company's founder declared a "grand slam."
"Like the smell of a brand-new car" were the words of International Space Station astronaut Don Pettit on Saturday after he carefully opened the hatch and entered the Dragon capsule for his first glimpse inside.
A private spacecraft connected to the International Space Station on Friday, a milestone in a new era of commercial space flight.
During SpaceX's berthing, an astronaut onboard the ISS said, "Houston, looks like we've caught a Dragon by the tail."
A new era in space exploration dawned Tuesday as a slender rocket shot into the dark Florida sky before sunrise, carrying the first private spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.
On Saturday, a company called SpaceX was scheduled to launch the first private mission to the International Space Station, demonstrating a freight-carrying capability NASA gave up when it retired its fleet of space shuttles in July. (The flight was aborted at the last second after a faulty valve was discovered; SpaceX officials said the launch was postponed till Tuesday or Wednesday.)
The space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a 747 jumbo jet, swooped across the New York City skyline on Friday before touching down at the city's John F. Kennedy International Airport, bringing an end to its final flight.
This morning, around 10 a.m., I was 10 years old again.
NASA insisted Friday that it has dibs on rocket engines sitting deep on the Atlantic Ocean floor, a day after a wealthy adventurer announced the discovery of the prized pieces of space history.
A NASA orbiter has beamed back its first images of the far side of the moon, including scenes of a massive crater caused by an ancient cosmic impact, the space agency announced Wednesday.
Editor's Note: Pamela Greyer is a K-12 science educator, STEM education consultant and NASA solar system ambassador. She is the former site director of NASA's Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy Chicago Program and continues to mentor and engage youths in NASA engineering competitions and contests.
The largest solar storm for seven years is expected to send radioactive solar particles racing toward Earth this week.
The first of twin research spacecraft entered the moon's orbit Saturday, part of an effort to learn more about how it and other terrestrial bodies formed, NASA said.
The second of two new research probes successfully entered the moon's orbit Sunday afternoon, a day after its companion, NASA announced.
The moon disappeared from view along the U.S. West Coast on Saturday amid a total lunar eclipse.
A NASA spacecraft carrying a Mars rover was in "excellent health" Saturday more than two hours after it began its eight-and-a-half-month journey.
Astronaut Melvin Leland and musician Will.I.Am talk about how the Mars rover can motivate a new generation of explorers.
A piece of debris hurling through space no longer presents enough of a threat to force the International Space Station crew to move, NASA said late Tuesday.
Three astronauts returned safely to Earth on Tuesday after spending almost six months in space, NASA said.
An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier passed within the moon's orbit Tuesday, the closest approach by an object that large in more than 30 years.
Kevin Yates of the Near Earth Objects Information Centre discusses an asteroid that is to pass close to Earth.
On Tuesday, asteroid 2005 YU55 is scheduled to pass near Earth, slightly closer than the moon.
On Tuesday, asteroid 2005 YU55 is scheduled to pass near Earth, slightly closer than the moon. If you've seen the "Asteroid" (1997) or "Deep Impact" (1998) movies, you know why people pay attention to what NASA calls "potentially hazardous objects": A large asteroid hitting the Earth could cause global catastrophe.
NASA scientists say they have captured the first-ever detailed airborne measurements of a major iceberg about to break off into the sea.
NASA launched a satellite Friday morning in what the space agency is calling a critical first step in a new effort to observe the Earth's climate.
NASA launches its first earth-observing satellite that will measure both climate change and key weather variables.
Florida's governor sent a message to the aerospace industry Tuesday: the state supports Kennedy Space Center's future.
A NASA satellite came through the atmosphere, but they're not sure where the pieces went. CNN's Reynolds Wolf explains.
In the early morning hours Saturday, surviving remnants of a NASA satellite re-entered Earth's atmosphere over a remote stretch of the southern Pacific Ocean, the U.S. space agency said Tuesday.
Kris Rakowski put the dog out late Friday and looked to the skies above his Maple Grove, Minnesota, residence.
CNN's John Zarrella reports the U.S is an unlikely but potential target of the satellite falling from space.
A defunct satellite plummeting toward Earth is expected to re-enter the atmosphere between 11:45 p.m. Friday and 12:45 a.m. Saturday ET, NASA reported late Friday evening.
A satellite whose orbit is degrading will fall back to Earth Friday afternoon, but only some of its pieces will survive the fiery ride through the atmosphere, NASA scientists said Thursday.
A satellite whose orbit is degrading is likely to crash back to Earth on Friday, and 26 pieces have a good chance of surviving the heat of re-entry, NASA said.
Science.com writer Tariq Malik says the dead satellite could hit sometime Friday, but NASA doesn't know exactly where.
NASA and its partners have worked out a tentative schedule that will send flights back to the International Space Station.
After a couple of weather delays, NASA finally launched its moon research mission Saturday morning.
NASA delayed its Thursday launch of a moon research mission because of weather issues and will retry on Friday.
NASA's upcoming GRAIL mission will provide new information about how the moon formed and will allow students to take their own pictures of its surface, panelists announced at a news conference at NASA headquarters in Washington on Thursday.
Astronomers just discovered the largest reservoir of water ever, roughly 140 trillion times the volume of the Earth's oceans. With severe drought afflicting Africa, Asia and the southern United States, you might ask whether this offers a solution to earthly afflictions.
NASA scientists are slightly more than a week away from launching a Jupiter mission they say will unlock key secrets of how our solar system was formed.
Could there have been life on Mars? That's the mission NASA is setting out to answer with Curiosity, the next-generation Mars rover whose landing site was announced Friday at the National Air and Space Museum's annual Mars Day.
Soaring across the predawn haze, the space shuttle Atlantis glided back to Earth early Thursday -- capping a 30-year program that saw hundreds of astronauts go into space.
NASA celebrates as shuttle Atlantis returns home from its final mission.
Atlantis, the last space shuttle, returned to Earth on Thursday and will go to its post-retirement gig at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. After more than 30 years and 135 shuttle flights by literally hundreds of astronauts, NASA has reason to be proud.
As crew members of the last space shuttle flight hovered over Earth for the final time, they spoke with CNN Wednesday about the next frontier in space flight.
While searching for rings around the dwarf planet Pluto, NASA astronomers made an unintentional discovery -- Pluto has a fourth moon.
Talk about an out-of-this-world meal.
NASA extends the space shuttle Atlantis mission by one day.
Floating 245 miles over the Earth Tuesday, NASA engineers Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan tethered themselves to the International Space Station and paused to absorb the view.
The space shuttle Atlantis will be in space for one more day than originally planned, NASA announced Monday.
NASA has invited the public to share a virtual "All-American Meal" with the Atlantis shuttle crew Thursday.
The International Space Station and space shuttle Atlantis are not in danger from an orbiting piece of debris after all, NASA said Monday.
Atlantis docked with the International Space Station Sunday morning as part of a historic mission marking the final flight of the U.S. shuttle program.
Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off Friday morning on the final mission of America's 30-year shuttle program, a thunderously poignant moment that drew people from around the world to watch.
He's summited Mount Everest. He's walked in space seven times.
Early data shows space shuttle Atlantis, poised for launch Friday, escaped damage from two lightning strikes Thursday afternoon, NASA said.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says that human space flight for America will not end with the retirement of the shuttle program. Instead, the space agency plans to refocus its efforts from lower-orbit vehicles to deeper space probes.
With the end of the shuttle program, NASA is transitioning to deep space exploration. CNN's John Zarrella reports.
The four-member crew that will fly the final space shuttle mission to end an era arrived Monday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Tuesday's space debris incident at the International Space Station was the "closest anything has come to the space station," NASA said Wednesday.
NASA stops an auction of moon dust it says was stolen after the Apollo 11 mission. KSDK reports.
The astronauts from shuttle Atlantis answer questions regarding NASA's final mission.
July 8 will mark the start of the final space shuttle mission and the end of an era, NASA announced Tuesday.
Unexpected space debris came flying close to the International Space Station on Tuesday, prompting its six astronauts to take shelter inside two Soyuz capsules, NASA said.
A misguided photo shoot of Air Force One over New York City in 2009 terrified residents, infuriated the president, and cost the director of the White House Military Office his job. Now, NASA is working to prevent a similar panic in Washington D.C.
NASA launched a satellite Friday, starting a three-year mission to help better understand climate change.
Space shuttle Endeavour lands at Kennedy Space Center, completing its 25th and final mission.
The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday, completing its 25th and final mission -- the next-to-last mission for NASA's 30-year-old space shuttle program.
After more than 15 days in space, the six crew members of the Endeavour made final preparations to return to Earth Wednesday on its final mission and the next-to-final mission for NASA's 30-year-old space shuttle program.
CNN's John King talks to the crew of space shuttle Endeavour about their final moments in space.
NASA plans a return to yesteryear by developing a space capsule that will carry humans into deep space, it announced Tuesday.
A spacewalk of more than eight hours -- the sixth-longest in history -- was successfully completed Sunday morning, the second of four spacewalks of the space shuttle Endeavour mission, NASA said.
NASA officials describe a malfunction in mission specialist Greg Chamitoff's suit during Endeavour's first shceduled spacewalk.
Thirty years after the space shuttle program began, the final space shuttle flight is slated to take place on July 8, NASA said Friday.
NASA personnel on the ground Thursday were analyzing photos of what appeared to be damage to the space shuttle Endeavour's heat shield tiles, but Cmdr. Mark Kelly said it wasn't a big concern.
When space shuttle Endeavour blasts off Monday on its final journey, I'll be thinking about the shuttle's three remarkable decades of service.
Thanks to positive results on all pre-flight checks, NASA officials on Saturday unanimously gave the go-ahead for the Monday launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords arrived safely Sunday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where she is expected to be among half a million people gathering Monday to view the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, NASA said.
The final launch of space shuttle Endeavour is now scheduled for May 16 after a delay caused by an electrical fault, NASA said Monday.
The launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, originally scheduled for April 29, has been delayed again, NASA said Friday.
The rescheduled launch date of the space shuttle Endeavour, whose mission was scrubbed last week due to an electrical problem, remained uncertain Wednesday, but sources told CNN the next liftoff could be as late as May 13.
The final launch of space shuttle Endeavour, originally set for Friday and then delayed until Monday, now will not occur before May 10 at 11:21 a.m., officials said.
NASA may decide Sunday morning whether the delayed final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour will occur Monday afternoon, the space agency said.
CNN's John Zarrella is at the Kennedy Space Center as the shuttle launch is delayed.
It's now become a somewhat common event, one that for most Americans is signaled by nothing more than a brief blip on the news. But a space shuttle launch is still one of mankind's most complex and massive undertakings, a carefully-primed $1.3 billion explosion that turns years of planning and construction into a spectacle that lasts only a few moments.
NASA announced Tuesday the new retirement homes for the four remaining space shuttles -- three historic orbiters and the program's test vehicle.
Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space -- the date was April 12, 1961. Twenty years later on April 12, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen got on board the space shuttle Columbia, a craft that looked more like a plane that a rocket ship. It launched an entirely new era in space flight.
Museums around the country are trying to get their hands on a space shuttle orbiter. CNN's John Zarrella reports.
NASA said Thursday, because of budget constraints, between 150 and 300 contractor positions will be eliminated at the Marshall Space Flight Center, the agency's Huntsville, Alabama facility.
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