NASA is the space agency run by the United States to oversee American space exploration, research and technology. NASA, or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was founded in 1958 as a civilian agency for U.S. space exploration. Prior to 1958, the agency's progenitor was known as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NASA develops, builds and launches missions to study the Earth, moon and sun, as well as the entire solar system and beyond. The agency has its headquarters in Washington D.C., with major centers in Florida (the Kennedy Space Center for launches) and Houston (the Johnson Space Center, home of the astronaut corps). Other centers are spread across the country for scientific research, test flights and spacecraft manufacturing. NASA's current chief is Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who is leading the agency's mission of returning astronauts to the moon and sending them on to Mars. See the latest NASA news.
Related Topics: Apollo Program, China Space Program, Incredible Space Tech, International Space Station, Interstellar Travel
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Latest about NASA
NASA workers plan 'Moon Day' protest on July 20 to oppose mass layoffs, budget cuts. 'This year has been an utter nightmare that has not stopped.'
Workers from within NASA will protest the space agency leadership's "preemptive over-compliance" of the White House's proposed budget, gutting science and eliminating jobs.
On this day in space! July 17, 1962: X-15 plane breaks altitude record
A test pilot flew at an altitude of almost 60 miles.
NASA preps key piece of Artemis IV moon rocket for lunar mission | Space photo of the day for July 17, 2025
NASA moved its payload adapter at the Space Flight Center in Huntsville to prepare for the upcoming Artemis IV mission
'Doghouse' days of summer — Boeing's Starliner won't fly again until 2026, and without astronauts aboard
NASA and Boeing are still working on the thruster issues that Starliner experienced on its first crewed flight last year, and the spacecraft's next mission will likely launch without astronauts.
NASA X-ray spacecraft reveals secrets of a powerful, spinning neutron star
Observations of a pulsar, consisting of a dead star spinning 600 times a second, and feasting on a stellar companion reveal the source powering its emissions.
NASA's sci-fi-looking X-59 feels the supersonic wind blow in test tunnel | Space photo of the day for July 16, 2025
NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) tested a model of the X-59 experimental aircraft in a supersonic wind tunnel to measure the noise underneath the jet.
Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' pushes for crewed moon missions, but proposed budget cuts leave NASA science behind
The U.S. government's "One, Big Beautiful Bill" Act finds funding for Artemis and Lunar Gateway, but nearly half of NASA's science missions are on the chopping block ahead of the 2026 budget.
Astronomers discover giant alien planet 35 times more massive than Earth hiding in a known star system
"It remains possible that there are other unseen planets in the system. The challenge is finding them!"
