Innovation Now: Recent Episodes
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Innovation Now is a daily 90-second radio series and podcast that gives listeners a front row seat to hear compelling stories of revolutionary ideas, emerging technologies and the people behind the concepts that are shaping our future.
Astronomers have a new set of eyes on the TRAPPIST-1 system - the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope.
Researchers from across the country have gathered at NASA Armstrong Flight Center in California to find a solution to the unavoidable hazard of volcanic ash.
Thanks to orbiting observatories like the Keppler Space Telescope, scientists have discovered thousands of planets beyond our solar system.
Astronaut Snoopy has a new job. He will serve as the Zero G indicator for the Artemis I mission.
The NASA astronaut corps includes fearless women who find ways to build their families while working to advance science and society through groundbreaking research and exploration.
Inspiring the next generation, women like NASA’s Debbie Martinez want to show young girls they can be a mother and an engineer, a pilot, or anything they would like to be!
A NASA team is studying an assortment of Origami designs – from the well-known Miura fold, invented by a Japanese astrophysicist, to a combination pattern that would allow a flower-like structure to expand into a large flat circular surface.
Rose petals, which are particularly good at absorbing, rather than reflecting light, are an inspiration for solar panels.
NASA plans to return to the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.
For small spacecraft technology demonstrations, failure is an option. It is where you learn from mistakes and make improvements in the next round.
Sailing on Venus’ strong winds, a mysterious object soars silently over the scorched surface below. This is airborne exploration reimagined.
NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, located just outside New Orleans, is America’s Rocket Factory. It’s where teams work together to turn raw components into rockets.
From a distance of approximately three point eight billion miles, Voyager 1 had a unique vantage point of home.
Apollo astronauts captured from space humanity’s first photos of the fragile planet we call home.
Real-time monitoring of damage to the composites being used in today’s aircraft is difficult, so the FAA is developing new standards and techniques to assess damage that hasn’t even left a visible mark.
An analysis of new images taken during the Parker Solar Probe’s latest flyby may provide another glimpse through the clouds to the Venusian surface.
Drones could be used at airports to improve fence inspections, assist with security and wildlife management, or aid firefighters.
Hazardous thunderstorms are generated by rapidly rising air currents called updrafts and these patterns are being detected by software developed at NASA.
Innovative advanced food systems to benefit astronauts, like those being developed through the Deep Space Food Challenge, could also provide new solutions for food issues at home.
Artificial Intelligence programs can problem solve and make changes in response to the information they’ve been exposed to, essentially learning from their environment.
The Marshall team maintains around-the-clock operations, ensuring the success of science on station.
It appears that bees are able to gauge the intensity of light penetrating the leafy canopy, using the brightness as a guide.
For almost six decades, researchers at NASA kept their wheels spinning, testing tire wear on the space shuttle and airplane brake systems, making transportation safer for us all.
The European Service Module provides propulsion and in-space maneuvering capabilities, allowing Orion to get where it needs to go.
In the hours prior to a rocket launch, flight controllers monitor various systems, including weather.
Jonathan Sauder is often surrounded by carefully organized boxes of colorful LEGO pieces he uses to help visualize his work.
NASA aircraft can compare old and new images, weeks apart, and tell if a levee has moved even a fraction of an inch.
This simple foolproof solution will help keep you and your family safe, even if you were left in the dark.
Thanks to repair and replacement missions, the Hubble Space Telescope, which has made more than 1.5 million scientific observations since it deployed in 1990, is still sending back iconic images of space.
Technology drives exploration. As an insitu resource engineer, Diane Linne pushes technologies forward that will enable future NASA missions.
Today every state in the Nation has miles of grooved pavement to enhance the safety of our roadways.
The nation’s investments in technology enable NASA to make a difference in the world around us. But it takes a diverse and creative workforce to make those technologies a reality.
The search is on for lead-free fuels that will have the least impact on the general aviation fleet and aircraft manufacturers, while providing equivalent performance levels.
Fungi are familiar organisms – from mushrooms to mold. But the part of a fungus you may not know are the unseen underground mycelia.
Jackie Quinn, an environmental engineer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is working on one of the instruments that will help VIPER search for water on the Moon.
Engineers designed this unique testing chamber that is made up of a long tube connected to the building that houses an experiment to test giant telescopes before they are sent to space.
Shapeshifter can travel long distances over hard to access terrains, all while carrying out a diverse set of tasks.
The FAA is working with partners, like NASA, to develop solutions to challenges in aircraft safety, airport technology and human factors.
Laser technology would allow us to move large amounts of data and high-definition video in shorter amounts of time.
New advanced technologies sustain astronauts no matter how long they call the Orion capsule home.
Celebrate Women’s History Month by reading, NASA’s First Woman, a fictional story of the first woman on the Moon.
During the month of March, NASA joins the nation in paying tribute to the many women who play an essential role in shaping our history.
Building on NASA’s history of upgrading and maintaining assets in space, researchers are conducting technology demonstrations will help extend satellite lifespans.
Made up of seven windows, the cupola provides spectacular views of Earth and other celestial objects.
Mallory Johnston is one of the Faces of Technology at NASA. Celebrate Women’s History Month by learning more about her story and others like her.
Since its discovery, the TRAPPIST-1 system has intrigued scientists. It is by far the most unusual planetary system yet found beyond our Sun.
One of NASA’s new Centennial Challenges is looking to the public to help power our return to the Moon.
Researchers at the FAA are using state of the art equipment to measure and record friction, traction, and wheel slippage under various runway conditions.
When NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover tried to collect its first rock core sample last August, the outcome was a puzzle. The sample tube came up empty. So, what had happened?
You may have heard the expression, “If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.” The origin of this weather lore may have come from the stars.
The primary focus of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is the Sun, but Venus plays a critical role in the mission.
Inside the International Space, a crew of three to seven members conducts the 200 plus experiments being worked remotely from the ground.
Science research on the International Space Station could provide a better model for testing drugs to combat cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Statistics published by the American Cancer Society show that approximately one in nine women in the United States will develop breast cancer. Now, early detection has a new weapon.
Statistics published by the American Cancer Society show that approximately one in nine women in the United States will develop breast cancer. Now, early detection has a new weapon.
Cancer research that began in space has led to at least fifteen microcapsule patents, revolutionizing the way cancer treatments can be administered.
February is National Cancer Awareness Month, and NASA is using the International Space Station to conduct cancer research that will benefit patients on Earth.
As NASA prepares to send astronauts farther into space than ever before, they need to upgrade the production of one critical fuel source: food.
Some large winter storms are rolling across the country, and that’s exactly what these storm-chasing scientists have been preparing for.
When you send your Valentine a card with one of these spacy sentiments, they’re sure to be over the Moon with delight.
The International Space Station measures 357 feet, about the length of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, where this year’s Super Bowl 56 will be played.
Understanding why materials burn, and better yet, what makes materials not burn, is the primary goal of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Fire Safety Laboratories.
Today’s astronauts can enjoy many of the same candies they would have at home from peanut butter cups to Milky Way candy bars.
Understanding how fire behaves in microgravity and how different materials will burn in space is extremely important for future exploration missions.
NASA’s OSCAR processes small pieces of trash in a high temperature reactor, effectively turning trash into usable resources.
Lucy will bring us closer than ever before to these fossils of planet formation, while giving us new insights into the origins of Earth.
If humans are destined for deep space, we need to understand how living in space affects health. To do that, astronauts must be able to analyze medical samples themselves.
Several Earth-observing satellites captured images of this powerful volcanic eruption in the South Pacific.
Every February 2, thousands of people travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to celebrate a quirky little holiday called Groundhog Day.
To improve runway safety, a graded section at the end of commercial airport runways helps stop a plane in the event an aircraft overruns the landing area.
Taking to the sky is what NASA does best and NASA’s technology portfolio includes design improvements for the next generation of UAVs.
LEMUR has led to a new generation of walking, climbing, and crawling robots that could be used on future missions.
Researchers built this cloud controller from scratch using technology that is free and available to all.
While other NASA sensors can be used to monitor a vessel’s structural health, this sensor is a natural fit for monitoring engine rooms on ships at sea.
Explosive volcanic ash is made up of microscopic silica that can scratch aircraft windshields and shut down engines in flight.
Precise radio navigation, using radio frequencies to determine position, is vital to the success of deep space exploration missions.
Communicating the diversity of our world, this gold-plated copper disk contains sounds made by surf, wind, and thunder; spoken greetings from Earth-people; and an eclectic collection of music.
When his football career as a wide receiver was cut short because of an injury, Leland Melvin pursued his passion for engineering.
During the Apollo missions only a very small part of the Moon’s surface was explored. Artemis astronauts will push the boundaries of lunar exploration.
Ice crystal contrails may have a larger, more immediate impact on climate than carbon dioxide emissions because they produce localized increases in temperature.
No one is more familiar with Orion’s Heat Shield technology than Luis Saucedo, the Functional Aero Manager for Orion’s Thermal Protection System.
The James Webb Space Telescope is one of the most ambitious and technically complex missions NASA has ever set its focus on.
This shoebox-size weather satellite phoned home one last time before burning up in Earth’s atmosphere last December, but not before proving that big things really can come in small packages.
Today the Federal Aviation Administration’s Wildlife Hazard Mitigation Program focuses on reducing wildlife hazards for flights in the air and on the ground.
When coupled with a drone and GPS, this UV detection system can be used to remotely inspect power grids.
Cryogenics is the study of things at very low temperatures and NASA is changing the way they keep things cool.
This Shapeshifter robot can fly in the sky, tumble over terrain, cruise into caves, float like a boat, and swim under seas.
Each year, NASA creates hundreds of new inventions. And through technology transfer, many of these inventions become part of our everyday lives.
Fascinating discoveries about the brightest world in our solar system all point to an ocean world which may have conditions friendly to life.
Gateway will serve as a port for the human landing system that will take astronauts down to the lunar surface, and act as a staging location for spacecraft heading out to destinations beyond the Moon.
NASA is looking for innovative dust mitigation technologies before Artemis astronauts go back to the Moon to stay.
When you leave your car outside overnight in the cold, you often have to wipe off the windows in the morning.
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968.
A team of scientists created the Disasters Mapping Portal to allows users to understand what’s happening on the ground when disasters hit.
Paul C. Fisher had already revolutionized the pen industry before he launched his company into space with a new pen that would work without gravity.
Over four billion years ago, the newly formed solar system consisted of trillions of rocky and icy bodies.
The innovative Ballistic Impact Lab is helping engineers predict what materials will stand up to the micrometeorites that bombard the lunar surface.
Santa hats, a 2-foot artificial tree, and holiday treats that include butter cookies complete with colored icing packs can be found throughout the space station.
Much like an RV, this new pressurized rover will contain everything astronauts need to live and work on the surface.
The now stacked rocket and crew capsule are preparing to roll out to Launchpad 39B in late December.
Understanding the relationship between fatigue and autonomous systems will help engineers design solutions to help sleepy drivers stay alert.
Sip a cup of hot cocoa in your own living room and watch the dazzling displays of space themed lights online.
The SmartSuit is more than just a novel suit specifically designed for operations outside a spacecraft on planetary surfaces like Mars.
Using non-destructive underwater 3-D imaging, the team hopes to paint an accurate picture of what is happening beneath the surface at Pearl Harbor.
NASA has developed the Black Marble, a daily calibrated and validated product suite that remotely senses lights at night.
These two bold missions will help uncover the clouded truths about the shrouded world of Venus.
The Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility houses the world’s largest welding tool, which was used to build the world’s biggest rocket.
The International Space Station’s orbit takes it all around the globe so you could be in the right place at the right time of the day as the station streaks across the sky.
NASA’s ongoing partnership with LEGO helps get the next generation interested in our shared future in space. But you won’t just find LEGOs in kids’ hands.
Those trails of condensed water from jet exhaust, seen as white streaks against the sky, can linger in the upper atmosphere for hours and affect the way Earth is heated and cooled.
Four astronauts joined the crew on the International Space Station last week. Three of those four astronauts are rookies who are about to experience their first holidays in space.
For more than 50 years, Snoopy has contributed to the excitement for NASA’s human spaceflight missions, helping to inspire generations to dream big. And this year, “big” just happens to be 49 feet tall.
No one wants to worry about the safety of the food on their table. And thanks to a system created for astronaut food, we don’t have to.
With more than three thousand parts, the sampling and caching system on the rover is the most complex mechanism ever sent into space.
Monitoring ocean height helps scientists predict the impact of sea level rise on humanity and improves marine and weather forecasts.
The instruments on NASA’s TESS are ideal for studying stellar vibrations, a field of research known as asteroseismology.
A company called Amorphology hopes to drop the price of cobots by using NASA advances originally made for planetary rovers.
A stabilized approach for landing is based on the pilot’s interpretation of certain visual clues.
Instead of fire, the exhaust produced by electric propulsion is a glowing greenish-blue trail, reminiscent of a science fiction movie.
NASA has released its first interactive graphic novel. The story follows fictional First Woman, Callie Rodriguez, as she becomes the first female astronaut to live and work on the Moon.
One hundred twenty tons of this simulant can be found at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in a lab area where they test how robots will perform on the Moon.
If you can service a satellite, it’s really a game changer, for both NASA and for the commercial industry.
The James Webb Space Telescope will help us study every phase in the history of our universe.
Radio over interplanetary distances isn’t just slow, it can only carry a limited amount of data, at about the speed of an old telephone modem Internet connection.
This new shield technology could allow scientists to study the Sun’s sizzling surface closer than ever before.
NASA’s Environmental Control and Life Support System works hard to make sure the Orion crew breathes easy.
While today’s larger more powerful jet engines are actually quieter than those built for earlier planes, jet engine noise cannot be completely eliminated.
Four tiny cameras will provide critical information about the crater that forms as a lander makes its descent to the lunar surface.
The ADEPT team observed firsthand just how well Spiderweave took the heat when exposed to temperatures above three thousand degrees Fahrenheit.
These are some of the spookiest spots in our solar system. Take a Haunted Hayride, if you dare.
With a bit of artistic flair, NASA has created some eye-catching posters of nightmare worlds.
Geomagnetic storms create beautiful auroras, a sight many of us know as the northern lights.
Updated tiles and an innovative heat shield will help Orion, and its crew, take the heat during re-entry.
What Cassini revealed about this ocean world made it one of the solar system’s most scientifically interesting destinations.
NASA brought together some of its most advanced tools to create the Disasters Mapping Portal so users can view disaster data almost as it happens.
The speckle-skinned whale shark is among the rarest of fish species. Researchers are now tracking these filter-feeding leviathans using Hubble math.
The University of Maryland, NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and others recently used an airborne advanced imaging radar from NASA, a drone, and a patrol boat to examine natural oil seepage off the California coast.
Artemis astronauts are bound to kick up a little dust as they explore the Moon’s South Pole.
We use smart phones, have smart TVs, and drive smart cars. Soon NASA astronauts may be sporting SmartSuits.
Equipped with an onboard computer, a stereo camera, and a wireless radio, these origami-inspired rovers enable different kinds of science measurements.
Orion astronauts will wear a new suit designed for launch day, emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and the high-speed return home.
Hot and unforgiving, Earth’s nearest neighbor boasts a toxic atmosphere and a sweltering surface.
Projecting future sea level rise is critical for coastal planners and policymakers who are trying to account for sea-level rise on their communities.
The Venus rover is one of the visionary ideas currently being funded for study by NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program.
Online networking opportunities make it easier for researchers across the world to work together to track animal migration.
Micrometeorites traveling through space often hit the surface of the Moon. These high-speed, tiny pieces of rock or metal pose a danger to spacecraft and astronauts alike.
First Woman's hero, Calista Rodriguez, aka Callie, has a heroic aim – to be the first woman on the Moon.
Drowsy drivers account for a large portion of car crashes. Unlike people, computers don’t get sleepy. Could self-driving cars be a safe alternative?
Gateway will serve as a port for the human landing system that will take astronauts down to the lunar surface.
NASA engineers have created a new space toilet, the Universal Waste Management System, for astronauts who will need to spend days or even months in the Orion spacecraft.
NASA’s Black Marble is playing a vital role in monitoring disaster impacts with satellite data that looks at a unique human footprint artificial lights at night.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has completed the collection of the first rock sample on another planet.
Through a series of graphic novels and digital platforms, NASA’s First Woman tells the tale of Callie Rodriguez, the first woman to explore the Moon.
NASA scientists believe that even small, shadowed craters on the Moon are cold enough to hold water molecules.
It stands 170 feet tall. This one-of-a-kind welding tool is the largest in the world. So, that’s where NASA is building the fuel tanks for the world’s largest rocket.
JWST will be NASA’s premiere space observatory, giving astronomers worldwide infrared eyes on the universe.
The attacks on 9/11 twenty years ago were a national tragedy that resulted in a staggering loss of life and significant changes in the American way of life.
NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity bear a silent memorial to the victims of the September 11th attacks.
Thanks to the meticulous efforts of more than 50 people, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is back in business.
The Orion spacecraft features advanced technologies that can sustain an astronaut crew during long space travel.
Through a collaboration with NASA, NOAA, the European Space Agency, and EUMETSAT in Europe, Sentinel – 6 is studying sea level rise from space.
We depend on satellites for weather forecasting, GPS, and communications. But how do you tune-up a satellite already in orbit?
Cobots, or collaborative robots, are smaller, more aware robots that would be safer to use around humans.
After engineers at NASA Langley pioneered the glass cockpit concept in ground simulators and demonstration flights, Boeing built the first glass cockpits for airliners.
Over time, it might be possible to breed soybean plants with lighter leaves that would apply extra nitrogen to growing more beans.
This disinfectant process can be used after each ambulance run, making it safer for both patients and paramedics.
NASA is investigating augmented and virtual reality applications that could help researchers work collaboratively on any aspect of mission design, implementation, or training.
Working together, NASA’s satellite networks will relay data 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure that Orion is in continuous communication with the ground.
The powerhouse of NASA’s Orion spacecraft is the European Service Module provided by the European Space Agency and its partner Airbus.
Crew members work with flight controllers to identify temporary campout locations when the new crew arrives on the International Space Station.
The NASA team behind an umbrella-like deployable heat shield is testing out a new material to deliver science payloads on future missions to Mars and beyond.
Inspired by origami, A-Puffer’s lightweight design is capable of flattening itself, tucking in its wheels, and crawling into places rovers can’t fit.
Working similar to GPS, this NDL remote sensing unit will have a maximum range of 5 miles on the Moon as it precisely navigates craft safely to the surface.
With funding from NIAC, this team is focused on getting a spacecraft as close to the Sun as possible.
For decades, acoustics engineers have worked to reduce the noise pollution created by aircraft.
After rounds of engineering, a NASA team developed a successful extraction system that can help eliminate PCB contamination.
Astronauts traveling to deep space need water and oxygen to survive. The farther they are from Earth, the harder it is to provide these for the crew.
To better protect passengers and crew, the FAA is conducting research that will help mitigate the dangers from batteries.
NASA is working with national park managers to link information about animal behavior to light and noise datasets.
As the Orion spacecraft re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, it will travel at speeds of about 25,000 miles per hour, creating blistering temperatures of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA and NOAA have joint satellites in space that use various wavelengths of light to monitor storms, including hurricanes.
NASA is finding ways to merge new technologies with those being readied for flight demonstration missions.
As a professional NASCAR driver, he knew the suit he wore while racing used NASA spacesuit technology. Could that same technology be modified to protect cell phones from extreme heat or cold?
A NASA spinoff of the Groth Algorithm can be used to match the unique spots on animals.
Beekeepers, and other agricultural managers, can use NASA’s Earth science information to make sound decisions that will keep the bees buzzing all across the globe.
The Ascension Island telescope has a unique feature, a double horseshoe mount, designed to track fast moving objects, giving astronomers eyes on orbital debris.
A team of scientists recently conducted field tests off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. The goal? Use satellites in space to not only map oil spills, but to understand where the slicks are thickest.
The Hubble Space Telescope has returned to full operation, following recovery from a computer anomaly that suspended the telescope’s observations for more than a month.
The FAA is working with partners, like NASA, to increase the efficiency of our national airspace system.
Scientists observe some space weather events with coronagraphs to reveal information about the sun’s atmosphere.
A new virtual reality tool, developed in collaboration with NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, has adapted a system that hooks into real aircraft.
Two identical spacecraft were built, each consisting of a lander and an orbiter designed to explore Mars.
An inclined wall and ingenuous system of slings and cables meant that a suited astronaut walking sideways, could experience what it would be like to walk on the Moon.
NASA’s Mosquito Habitat Mapper gives citizen scientists the option to identify mosquito species that could transmit diseases.
Cloud patterns can be used to determine the size and location of specific plant and animal habitats.
A team of NASA engineers are investigating the feasibility of shaping portions of an airplane’s wings in flight.
From the famous Earthrise photo to stunning pictures of other worlds, NASA has captured millions of images that help us learn more about the universe around us.
Thanks to cameras and microphones on the Perseverance rover, you can experience both the sights and sounds of Mars.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is designed to accommodate astronauts of all sizes who may need to spend weeks at a time in the capsule.
These Hubble images are stunning representations of cosmic fireworks that can be enjoyed by all.
The gases, made up of substances similar to those found in fireworks, created colorful clouds that allowed researchers to track the flow of neutral and charged particles within the auroral wind.
It’s her job to understand the different components of a spacecraft and then pull those all together in a simulation to give an estimate of how the vehicle’s going to perform during flight.
NASA continues to lead the preparation for planetary defense, looking for asteroids we know are out there waiting to be found.
SCALPSS data will help future landers safely deliver the larger, heavier payloads needed to put Artemis astronauts, and their equipment, on the Moon.
Researchers supported by NASA’s Applied Sciences Disasters Program use satellites in space to gauge damage that natural hazards such as hurricanes and earthquakes cause on Earth.
In short flights from there, the Dragonfly rotorcraft will fly to dozens of promising locations on Titan.
The Venus rover is one of the visionary ideas currently being funded for study by NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program.
During the successful hot fire test, the core stage fired the engines for a little more than eight minutes, just like it will during every Artemis launch to the Moon.
Now, thanks to an off-the-shelf microphone that was added to capture sounds during touchdown, we can hear Perseverance as it begins to make tracks across the surface of Mars.
When choosing a crop for this hydroponic experiment, the company zeroed in on duckweed, better known now as space lentils.
NASA will pair a mass spectrometer with a drill mounted on a rover to go out and look for resources on the Moon.
When NASA’s Orion spacecraft takes off, astronauts inside will be wearing new and improved, high-tech space suits.
Sometimes the most compelling locations on a planet’s surface are extreme landscapes that can be challenging for astronauts to investigate.
If you’re going to put payloads on a rocket and send it into space, you want to test the engine to make sure it’s going to get where you’re sending it safely.
Taking to the sky is what NASA does best and NASA’s technology portfolio includes design improvements for the next wave of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Now that the Commercial Crew Program has begun flying crews of four on U.S. commercial spacecraft, the full crew of the International Space Station has expanded to seven people.
NASA is preparing for an active 2021 hurricane season as NOAA predicts an above average number of named storms.
A new toilet makes the essential task of going to the bathroom in space a bit more comfortable.
The Zero Gravity seat has a unique shape that provides support to the whole vertebral column, reducing loads on all parts of the body and decreasing fatigue.
Jezero Crater is a 28-mile-wide rugged expanse filled with potential hazards... large rock fields, dunes, hills, and the walls of the crater itself.
The NASA Selfies app lets you generate snapshots of yourself in front of some of NASA’s most captivating space images.
When NASA’s Mars Helicopter took to the skies on its third flight, Perseverance was there to capture the historic moment.
Weather conditions, such as rain, snow, slush, or ice, affect braking friction on runway surfaces.
To land astronauts on Mars, NASA is working on an inflatable heat shield that would take up less space in a rocket than a rigid heat shield.
While other NASA sensors can be used to monitor a vessel’s structural health, this sensor is a natural fit for monitoring engine rooms on ships at sea.
Mount Tambora ejected so much ash and so many aerosols into the atmosphere that the sky darkened and the Sun was blocked from view.
TESS has observed the outburst of a comet, several exploding stars, and watched as a black hole in a distant galaxy shredded a Sun-like star.
Swarms of CubeSats could work together to give us a big picture understanding of the places we dream about exploring.
While the science underway on station keeps improving our future, its unique truss structure ensures that the thousands of research investigations can actually be done.
The Space Crop Production Lab at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is a web of research labs equipped with plant growth chambers of all sizes designed to simulate conditions on the International Space Station.
NASA is developing technologies to build structures on planetary surfaces using in-situ resources.
NASA is looking for creative solutions to menu boredom for astronauts on long duration missions.
A Moon rock has a place of honor in the Oval Office of the White House, on loan to the current administration.
NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock is a navigation shift that would allow us to more efficiently and precisely track spacecraft in flight.
She’s the lead Mom for the OSIRIS-REx mission – NASA’s first ever asteroid sample return mission.
During its flight demonstration, RainCube provided scientists with 3D pictures of what was going on inside storms around the world.
No more communication blackouts while waiting for this spacecraft to pass over a ground station.
The AZURE mission carried scientific instruments that deployed visible gases that ionized when exposed to sunlight.
With more than seven thousand metric tons and millions of individual pieces of space junk orbiting Earth, tracking the debris is essential.
Here on Earth, the tiny honeybee pulls its weight, adding an estimated 15 billion dollars to crops each year. And their contributions haven’t gone unnoticed by NASA.
This little black camera looks like something out of a spy movie, but it’s only going to keep an eye on what happens under a spacecraft as it lands on the Moon.
Animals migrate all over the planet. Now NASA is partnering with universities and other global agencies to compare data about animals wherever they roam.
An innovative satellite-based radar technology is allowing researchers at NASA to understand damage from natural hazards in new and powerful ways.
With the naming of the Headquarters building, NASA honors Mary Jackson’s legacy and affirms a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Nano sensors are known to be highly sensitive and low-resource, however the fabrication process is very complex and labor intensive.
Now scientists will be able to see how water droplets vary in size on a global scale and use that information to improve rainfall or snowfall estimates.
Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab are using what they know about the miniaturization of electronics for CubeSats to create robotic probes that can map the water passages beneath a glacier.
Now instead of waiting for updates with no information about flights on the ground at airports, air traffic managers have access to fast updates and end-to-end flight information.
Humming as they go, but softly to comply with noise limits on the space station, the Astrobees can take environmental readings or perform inventory.
NASA is hoping to build on the success of the silicon-based integrated circuits used on Mars landers.
A new virtual reality tool for pilots has adapted a system developed at NASA that can hook into an actual aircraft, replicating how a specific aircraft would behave.
Before a launch can proceed, all flight controllers are queried for a go/no-go status based on specific Do Not Launch criteria.
From playful to practical, these artistic embellishments help tell the story of the inhabitants of Earth who reached for the stars.
One of the most interesting things about fire safety research is actually learning how things burn.
This environmentally safe treatment actually travels into the ground, comes into contact with contaminants, and pulls the contaminant inside an oil bubble.
Is it possible to put a steampunk, clockwork rover on the surface of Venus – a planet that’s so hot paper flash burns in an instant?
NASA’s newest rover recorded audio of itself crunching over the surface of the Red Planet.
The core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System, the largest rocket element NASA has ever built, recently fired its four engines on the stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Getting the chance to see a lifelong project come to life is an unbelievable experience.
Ground markings, lighting, and runway signage help pilots know where they are at all times.
Not just frivolous symbols, hidden gems on NASA space missions serve as reminders that exploration is a human endeavor.
Advanced propulsion systems can run for years at a time, enabling new missions that will make the future of space exploration positively electrifying.
To reduce the number of items needed to land on the Moon or Mars, NASA has combined a home and vehicle into a single rover complete with breathable air.
When young American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh joined the world’s search for an elusive celestial object, his careful observations paid off.
While the Perseverance Rover explores Jezero Crater, five small pieces of spacesuit materials will be studied by SHERLOC, an instrument aboard the rover.
NASA engineers are working on unique designs to give a new generation of robots the mobility they need for extreme environments.
NASA has re-engineered the suit worn on the space shuttle to enhance range of motion and improve safety for the astronauts.
NASA has long used inflatable compression garments that prevent blood from pooling in the legs, to keep its test pilots and astronauts from blacking out during flight.
Being a female in engineering, Mallory Johnston knows how important it is to show others that women are out there in the STEM fields.
Join us in celebrating Women’s History Month and visit us online at Innovation Now to learn more about these remarkable women.
Astronauts are likely to suffer menu fatigue, a phenomenon also reported by military personnel who get tired of eating the same foods.
When people spend long periods of time in space, their muscles can suffer from lack of use.
She was the agency’s first African-American female engineer and now NASA’s Headquarters building in Washington, DC, has been named in her honor.
Technologies advance the science that helps us understand the auroras or northern lights.
If we are going to have the next generation of humans on other planetary bodies, then they would be using the technologies that we’re developing now.
Northrop Grumman kicked off their 2021 launch schedule with a Cygnus vehicle named for NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.
At the request of President Joe Biden, the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center sent a Moon rock to the White House.
History was made on February 18th, and thanks to the Perseverance Rover, we all have a front row seat!
This versatile new airlock supports multiple experiments or deploying satellites simultaneously, making space for a lot more station science.
Night vision goggles are designed to provide pilots with the ability to see clearly at night.
NASA is planning to send a mobile robot to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of water ice.
Using radio frequencies to determine a spaceship’s position in space is vital to the success of deep space exploration missions.
These Moon rocks, specially curated at NASA’s Johnson Space Center since they were brought to Earth, are an investment in the future.
With no atmosphere for sound waves to travel through, the real sound in space is mostly silence.
The Mars 2020 rover contains an armada of imaging equipment that will be an eye-opening experience for all.
The Mars helicopter is a technology demonstration that could soon have us flying at least 30 feet high over Mars.
Astronauts do get the chance to augment their diet with a few special treats, and chocolates are a common favorite.
Known as festooning, NASA added a few special extras to the Mars 2020 rover before it left Earth.
You could be in the right place at the right time of the day as the International Space Station streaks across the sky.
Humanity’s first photos of our fragile planet remind us that we have many reasons to be grateful for this grand oasis we call home.
Astronauts on a recent spacewalk installed the Robotic Tool Stowage, a protective storage unit for robotic tools.
Titan is unlike any other place in the solar system, but Dragonfly is like no other mission.
As the first certified launch system in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the Crew-1 mission marked a series of firsts for crew transportation.
Researchers at FAA Labs are dedicated to removing the harmful lead from general aviation aircraft fuel.
If MOXIE lives up to its name, future oxygen generators 100 times larger could support human missions on other worlds.
When Artemis missions launch to the Moon or Mars, they will carry liquids with them for fuel and life support.
Laser communications systems on Earth could provide high bandwidth in remote areas, bridging the digital divide and bringing high-speed communications to the world.
After almost three decades, NASA’s historic “worm” logo is being used for the Artemis program.
The extreme light and dark found on the Moon makes contours in the landscape invisible in the darkness.
What would you pack if you were one of the members of the Artemis crew headed for the Moon?
Before any rocket launch, a status check, known as a go/no-go poll, helps monitor operation and readiness status.
As part of NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, Space Labs Technologies sent their hydroponic chamber, LilyPond, to suborbital space on one of Blue Origin’s reusable launch vehicles.
During the past two decades, the International Space Station has supported scientific discoveries and historic breakthroughs.
OSIRIS REx tested a new autonomous navigation system designed to protect the spacecraft during its descent to the rock-strewn surface of asteroid Bennu.
Understanding the frequency of flares is one of the keys to determining a planet’s chance of harboring life.
This newly discovered plasmoid could be the dominant way Uranus sheds its atmosphere, at a faster rate.
Now retired from NASA, Leland Melvin encourages people to stay curious, follow their passions, and never give up, even when your dreams have you Chasing Space.
ECOSTRESS produces the most detailed temperature images of the surface ever acquired from space.
Now celebrating 20 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station, we continue to see benefits for all humankind and a launchpad to future destinations.
Working with NASA, racing engineers adapted a space technology to create a filter that removes 99% of all airborne particles, providing drivers with fresh clean air.
Instead of stabilizing tall buildings, this NASA spinoff is now being used in maritime environments.
NASA and several professional athletic organizations have joined forces to provide players with opportunities to create businesses that find new uses for NASA technologies.
From discoveries that help us better understand Earth, to missions that help us stretch what we know about the universe, NASA has had a memorable year.
In the early 2000’s Nissan Motor Company turned to NASA research to develop a more comfortable seat.
The human landing system joint testing team will determine the best ways to train astronauts to return to the surface of the Moon.
From hunting, to car accidents, to crop damage, deer have a huge economic impact in the United States.
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968.
Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere protect us from most space weather, the eruptions of light and fast-moving energized particles that come from our dynamic sun.
Working with NASA, scientists use the same computer software used to study a star or planet to study statistics from cancer patients.
After laboriously reshaping a wind tunnel model, Richard Whitcomb revolutionized aircraft design.
The doorways on the International Space Station have worked just fine for the past 20 years. But as more researchers expand the scope and size of their projects, a larger doorway could open up space.
The pandemic may have an unexpected impact that some nighttime images could illuminate.
As the third brightest object in the sky, it’s easy to spot if you know when to look up.
Watch these dazzling displays online, while you imagine what it would be like to spend your holidays in a distant galaxy filled with light.
The external storage unit on the Interational Space Station provides a warm, protected place for critical tools like the leak locator to be stored.
Robots come in all sizes and shapes and can be used in space exploration or terrestrial applications.
Once the SLS rockets have completed the Green Run testing, engineers will prepare the core stage for its trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Over the past twenty years, dozens of astronauts the opportunity to celebrate holidays in space.
FAA researchers are testing pilot reactions to various approach and landing scenarios by putting actual pilots into flight simulators.
NASA has selected a new mission to focus directly on the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, and how it generates the solar wind.
GPIM has demonstrated that this propellant can be used for anything from small CubeSats to full-size rockets, all while being safer for workers on the ground and increasing “gas mileage” after launch.
NASA is planning to send a mobile robot, called VIPER, to the South Pole of the Moon to get a close-up view of the location and concentration of water ice in the region.
Living in space isn’t just about the technology, but about the people who believe in teamwork, vigilance, responsibility, and competence.
Astronauts serving on the International Space Station understand how hard it is to be away from family during the holidays.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled three NASA astronauts and one astronaut from JAXA to the International Space Station, launching Crew-1 into history.
Today, U.S. law requires a pressure gauge on every car tire, alerting drivers whenever the pressure is off!
American rockets, American spacecraft, American soil. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is enabling safe, reliable, and cost-effective crew transportation to and from the International Space Station.
Astronauts on a recent spacewalk installed the Robotic Tool Stowage, a protective storage unit for robotic tools.
Meteorites are like history books that fall from the sky and deliver chemical information about the early solar system.
NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System, a fully interactive web application, visualizes the same trajectory data the navigation team at JPL uses to plot Perseverance’s course to Mars.
No one understands isolation better than the astronauts who have successfully lived on the International Space Station for days, weeks, and months over the past 20 years.
NASA’s new water-hunting rover, VIPER, will need some powerful headlights to shine a spotlight on the Moon.
To study this mysterious ocean world, NASA has selected Dragonfly as part of the agency’s New Frontiers Program.
Each year Americans celebrate Veteran’s Day on November 11th. While the date marks the anniversary of the end of World War I, the day honors everyone who served or is serving in the U.S. armed forces. And many of our NASA astronauts belong to that group.
Thanks to a new oven being tested on station, astronauts got to enjoy the smell of fresh baked cookies in space.
For 20 years, astronauts aboard the International Space Station have conducted science in a way that cannot be done anywhere else.
The FAA is researching ways to use unmanned aircraft and the equipment to control them remotely for a number of critical airport applications.
If MOXIE lives up to its name, future oxygen generators 100 times larger could support human missions on other worlds.
Research at the SLOPE Lab helps NASA develop the tools and technologies that will allow rovers to explore the surfaces of the Moon and Mars.
Every Halloween, astronauts onboard the International Space Station find a little time in their busy schedules to dress up and have some fun.
On October 31, 2000, veteran astronaut William Shepherd left Earth on a journey that began two decades of continuous human presence in low-Earth orbit.
NASA’s OSIRIS REx mission is testing an autonomous navigation system that could keep spacecraft safe enough to fly another day.
Americans exercise their right to vote from all over the world. And this year, one American will do so from space.
Eating fresh produce is an important part of a healthy diet. But if you’re in space, where’s the closest farmers’ market?
This lander technology will allow Mars 2020 to land at Jezero crater, a place scientists believe is the best place to collect samples for a Mars sample return.
Missions like TESS contribute to the field of astrobiology, the research about what conditions on distant worlds might harbor life.
The data Curiosity continues to send home have scientists anxiously waiting to see what Perseverance might discover as well.
In a new study, scientists are looking at sunspots. But instead of using high-resolution images, they are viewing the sunspots at low resolution as if they were trillions of miles away.
A safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible air transportation system is vital to our nation.
Today, sending a map of Mars to Earth might take nine years with current radio systems, but as little as nine weeks with laser communications.
Once the SLS rockets have completed the Green Run testing, engineers will prepare the core stage for its trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
To reduce the number of items needed to land on the Moon or Mars, NASA has combined a home and vehicle into a single rover complete with breathable air.
The travel time to the moon is 100 times shorter than to Mars and with the same characteristics of objects much more difficult to access, the moon may be the logical steppingstone to test new technologies.
Robotics systems engineers are creating and testing the complex algorithms and operations software that allow robots to do what they were designed to do.
To land astronauts on Mars, NASA is working on an inflatable heat shield that would take up less space in a rocket than a rigid heat shield.
As the only NFL player to fly in space, former astronaut Leland Melvin knows how to tackle a problem.
Over 200 million miles from home, OSIRIS REx is preparing for NASA’s most ambitious sample return since the Apollo program.
Recently scientists are talking about a new form of diamond – one that exists in outer space.
Designed to improve the view of the exterior of the International Space Station, the cupola was added to Tranquility Node 3 in 2010.
Having the right place to store your tools on the International Space Station is just as important as it is on Earth.
Access Mars is a free immersive experience that allows the user to take a guided tour of Mars.
Imagine yourself in the cramped cockpit of the Apollo 11 spacecraft heading to the Moon. Look around to see Earth out one window and stars lighting up black space from another.
NASA researchers soon discovered that when astronauts relaxed in space, their bodies automatically entered a particular posture.
The relationship between science and technology is one of synergy – a collaboration that helps our understanding of science change.
Astronaut Doug “Wheels” Wheelock will help Artemis astronauts get ready for the Moon and Mars.
FAA researchers are designing human-in-the-loop experiments to make approach and landing as safe as possible.
The images captured by Curiosity make astronomers here on Earth long for a chance at stargazing from Mars.
The warning light on your dashboard is telling you your tire pressure is low. Did you know you can thank NASA for the alert?
In the year since launch, GPIM has successfully proven that a never-before-used propellant and its propulsion system are practical options for future missions.
Technologies developed for space exploration could help safeguard health care workers as they care for patients with coronavirus.
From images that illustrate scientific concepts to those showcasing exciting missions, art continues to play an important role in preserving extraordinary moments in space exploration.
The golf-ball sized rock that appeared coal black against the white Antarctic snow, would prove to be one of the best-preserved meteorites of its kind.
Now you can travel to the planets, their moons, asteroids, comets, and see the NASA spacecraft that explore them.
The ultimate objective of FAA friction research is to provide pilots and airports with useful, accurate, and timely information about braking conditions on runways – no matter what those conditions might be.
OSCAR processes small pieces of trash in a high temperature reactor, effectively turning trash into usable resources.
Finding resources on the Moon is very important to the Artemis program because it allows human exploration to be sustained on the lunar surface.
As Perseverance searches for rock samples on Mars, it will also be studying samples of a different kind.
The Passive Porous Plant Nutrient System is one of the latest food production technologies developed in the NASA lab.
As a NASA technologist, Andrew Johnson listens to the needs of the mission and then creates or innovates something new to meet those needs.
As Perseverance speeds towards Mars, Curiosity celebrates eight years on the Red Planet.
After spending 62 days on the International Space Station and traveling more than 27 million miles, NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 crew has returned to Earth.
Engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center are hard at work, testing the world’s largest rocket stage.
As new applications for artificial intelligence are proposed, FAA scientists and engineers will work with the aviation community to ensure the safe integration of these technologies in airborne systems.
Because of the cold and stormy weather, 1816 became known as the Year without a Summer.
Winter, spring, summer, and fall. Earth’s unique tilt on its axis gives us our changing seasons.
A company called ecoSPEARS is using NASA technology to eliminate PCB contamination across the globe.
Eight and one-half years into its grand tour of the solar system, NASA’s Voyager 2 met icy-cold Uranus.
A team at NASA’s Ames Research Center is working to prove that planetary habitats can be fabricated from fungi.
EZVI pulls contaminants inside tiny oil bubbles that contain iron so the contaminant begins to degrade into a benign gas that microbes eat.
As astronauts plan to work on the Moon or Mars, they need to think about how to move from place to place and how to take essentials, like food, water, and air with them.
The Mars Helicopter is what NASA calls a technology demonstrator. Its sole goal is to show we can actually do this mission.
By processing small pieces of trash in a high temperature reactor, OSCAR is advancing innovative technology for managing waste in space.
A new high-pressure ventilator, called VITAL, has been developed by engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to free up the nation's supply of traditional ventilators.
Ingenuity, the first Mars helicopter will ride to the Red Planet attached to the belly of the Perseverance rover.
The largest rover we’ve landed on Mars is about the size of a car. But sending humans to Mars will require a much bigger spacecraft – and that means new technologies to land the payload.
Astronauts bound for Mars will need to travel 140 million miles into deep space. And getting there as quickly as possible reduces some of the risk of being away from Earth.
On a journey that began with the Wright Brothers, today’s researchers at the Federal Aviation Administration are taking aviation to new heights.
There is something about seeing your software do something in the physical world at the end of the day.
Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are. Like a diamond in the sky. That familiar nursery rhyme may actually have a ring of truth.
When NASA’s Perseverance rover travels to Mars to search for signs of life, it is important that the spacecraft doesn’t introduce any Earth bacteria into the Martian environment.
A comet is visiting from the most distant parts of our solar system, making a once-in-a-lifetime appearance.
If you are curious about what Hubble might have been looking at on your birthday, you’re in luck.
The Mars 2020 rover contains an armada of imaging equipment, from wide-angle landscape cameras to narrow-angle high resolution zoom lenses.
Wicked Joe Coffee, a family-owned company in Maine, turned to space-based data to build the roasting facility that keeps their java flowing.
When even the discovery of Neptune couldn’t explain Uranus’s unusual movements, astronomers began the search for Planet X.
Understanding how fire behaves in microgravity and how different materials will burn in space is extremely important for future exploration missions.
Space contains energetic charged particles which are continually tossed to and fro by the motion of plasma waves.
With spring tires made from this nickel titanium alloy, NASA engineers are reinventing wheels that could roll across the Moon and Mars.
No one understands isolation better than the astronauts who have successfully lived on the International Space Station.
More hands make light work. And that saying has never been truer than on the International Space Station right now.
Artists bridge the gap between imagination and illustration and can bring even the most complex concepts to life.
The FAA is researching ways to use unmanned aircraft and the equipment to control them remotely for a number of critical airport applications.
More than 10.9 million people submitted their names to ride aboard NASA’s next rover to the Red Planet.
NASA has reduced the number of onsite staff going into work each day. But, thanks to remote technologies, NASA is moving ahead with everything from space exploration to Earth science research.
Taking to the sky is what NASA does best and NASA’s technology portfolio includes design improvements for the next wave of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Once on Mars, Perseverance will collect and store rock samples, search for signs of microbial life, and pave the way for the humans who will follow.
The FAA regulates the operation and maintenance of our massive airport system. An understanding of surface conditions, including runway traction, is a key element of that system.
Before astronauts took the first historic bite of lettuce in space, every piece of equipment needed to grow that lettuce was tested in a lab at NASA.
Visit the NASA Technology Transfer program online and browse the entire portfolio to find a NASA invention you could license.
NASA has a number of satellites that can look at pre-fire, active fire, and post-fire activity.
Adidas is hoping to improve foot comfort thanks to research they are conducting in space.
Navigation Doppler Lidar determines a spacecraft’s exact speed and position, enabling it to land at a specific location on planetary surfaces.
NASA at Home invites you to be part of NASA’s exploration from around the world and across the universe.
Night vision goggles are designed to provide pilots with the ability to see clearly at night.
Approximately every 11 years, the sun undergoes a change from calm to violently active. But the timing of this important solar cycle is far from precise.
Like many innovations in NASA’s patent portfolio, these technologies have practical applications for use on Earth, or in this case, out on the open sea.
At NASA’s Glenn Research Center, researchers can test rover components in a unique indoor lab, the Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory.
The darkness, and subsequent cold on the Moon, create issues for rovers that might be used to explore these extreme environments.
The FAA is a leader in the development of new visual guidance systems that make our airports safer.
Cryogenics is the study of things at very low temperatures. And NASA is changing the way they work to keep things cool.
SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon on a single mission. And Pegasus is the only barge big enough to ferry the rocket to its place in space history.
NASA remembers Annie Glenn, a woman who was a source of strength to her husband and an American hero in her own right.
The countdown has begun as we prepare to launch American astronauts from American soil for the first time since the end of the shuttle era.
FAA researchers may look at different technologies air traffic controllers could be using in the next five years before building prototypes for testing.
Destined to become the first aircraft to attempt powered flight on another planet, NASA's Mars Helicopter has officially received a new name.
More than 3 decades after the flyby, scientists inspecting Voyager 2’s data have discovered one more secret about an icy world.
The first-of-its-kind oven and enough dough to bake 5 chocolate chip cookies meant the astronauts on station got to enjoy the smell of freshly baked cookies, if not the cookies themselves.
A pressure garment developed by NASA researchers has been shown to cut the mortality rate related to post-birth bleeding complications in half.
The vast loneliness up here on the Moon is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth. The Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.
The NASA astronaut corps includes fearless women who find ways to build their families while working to advance science and society.
NASA specializes in spacecraft, not medical-device manufacturing, but excellent engineering, rigorous testing and rapid prototyping are some of the agency’s specialties.
Flying on Mars is like flying at one hundred thousand feet on Earth. And an aerial vehicle that could take off and land multiple times would let us see much more of Mars.
Astronauts must eat a carefully selected diet of foods that maintain their health in space, but they do get the chance to augment that diet with a few special treats.
Our solar system is literally littered with asteroids and comets, and, sometimes, they come very close to Earth.
Watching films aboard the International Space Station is one way for the crew to bond and decompress. And guess which film just became an astronaut favorite!
If properly designed and tested, aircraft can benefit from artificial intelligence by adding features that support the pilot, crew, and passengers.
Astronauts don’t want to sit in their trash, so a team at NASA is working on a solution they call OSCAR.
What if the system NASA developed for removing contaminants from building paint could be used to clean up the environment?
On April 24, 1990, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Earth with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope nestled securely in its bay. The following day, Hubble was released into orbit, ready to peer into the vast unknown of space.
A NASA team envisions a future where a compact habitat built of dormant fungi could be taken on long journeys to places like Mars.
Earth – your home; our mission. NASA researchers work to understand and protect our planet.
Thanks to a little help from NASA, a solar wall in Maine helps coffee drinkers enjoy a wicked-good cup of coffee.
NASA engineers are reinventing the wheel, using nickel titanium to make unique spring tires.
Instead of a sonic boom, shockwaves produced by QueSST will be a quiet rumble that may enable supersonic flight over land.
Honeybees actually contribute about fifteen billion dollars annually to the U.S. economy.
Test data from this rocket failure test will help engineers build rockets best suited for future Artemis lunar missions.
Across NASA’s many missions, thousands of scientists, engineers, and other experts are doing what they do best, but now from home.
NASA is marking the 50th anniversary of one of the most successful failures of all time.
A UVA team is researching a slow-release gel that can be put on the head, like a shampoo, to enhance lymphatic function.
It can be really difficult to adjust to social distancing and quarantine. Fortunately, we can turn to some experts for advice.
NASA’s Technology Transfer Program puts NASA innovations into the hands of entrepreneurs, and these designs could help keep UAVs in the air.
Unmanned Aircraft Systems could soon be used to provide real-time data from unique vantage points at an airport near you.
Creating color images is a complex task that requires a considerable amount of labor and computer time.
We use GPS to navigate on Earth, but astronauts will use this new laser-based technology on the Moon.
What Kilopower gives you is that higher energy to be able to power systems or instruments on the Moon or Mars.
The Marsbee team hopes to send flapping wing flyers the size of bumblebees with cicada sized wings to Mars.
NASA will need a larger astronaut corps to crew the spacecraft bound for multiple destinations, including the Moon, and propel exploration forward to Mars.
The team is beginning rehearsals for its first touch-and-go sample collections on asteroid Bennu.
NASA has joined forces with several professional athletes’ groups to provide players with opportunities to create businesses that find new uses for NASA technologies.
The lithium batteries which power everyday devices can catch fire if overheated or damaged. And on a plane in flight, the fire could be catastrophic.
NASA’s next Mars rover has arrived in Florida to begin final preparations for its launch to the Red Planet this July.
If we really want to go somewhere in space, we’ve got to figure out a way to keep our fuels cold long enough.
FAA researchers are working on improvements to night vision goggle technology to enhance helicopter safety.
A new scientific investigation being conducted on the International Space Station is looking at high-tech shoes manufactured in space.
The rocket core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System is complete with all four RS-25 engines in place. But how do you get something that big to its next destination?
For NASA, making sure astronauts are healthy while they’re away from home is a top priority. And some of the new technologies developed for space can save lives right here on Earth.
Have you ever noticed the lighting or markings on an airport runway, or read the signage as you taxi from the terminal? This visual guidance is critical for safety.
This is the place - a lab where researchers design and test wheels for rovers that will one day explore the Moon and Mars.
Astronaut Christina Koch returned home after spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station. Now Koch will need to readjust to life on Earth.
Astronauts on the International Space Station recently baked the first chocolate chip cookies in space.
In honor of one of our favorite American authors, we bring you this special Innovation Now because there really is no place like space!
By anticipating questions before changes are made and evaluating human responses to these changes. FAA researchers are effectively preparing for the future.
As NASA prepares to once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil, the agency is looking for the next class of Artemis Generation Explorers.
NASA is exploring technologies that could grow structures made from fungi to become our future homes in the stars.
The search is on for unleaded fuels for small aircraft that will have the least impact on the general aviation fleet and aircraft manufacturers.
NASA is growing crystal gardens on the International Space Station to learn about self-organizing chemical reactions in space.
With NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars, Artemis is the first step to the next era of exploration.
Using flexible plastic tissue chips, scientists can make observations over the course of a few weeks in microgravity that would have taken months or years to happen on Earth.
There is one human pleasure that has been with the astronauts since the dawn of the space age... Chocolate!
For an out of this world Valentine, don’t head to the store. You might find just the card you’re looking for at NASA.
Kilopower is a nuclear technology being developed at NASA in collaboration with the Department of Energy.
These faint seismic signals detected by the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structures instrument appears to have indeed come from inside Mars.
Precise radio navigation, using radio frequencies to determine position, is vital to the success of deep space exploration missions.
NASA is looking for a way to achieve cryogenic temperatures in deep space, but with current technology, we can’t get things cold enough in space.
Green propulsion enables CubeSats to be built in a smaller size because the propellant is very dense and takes up less space.
New tools built by engineers could bring help for the millions who suffer from major neurological diseases.
Instruments on Mars provide a detailed view of what’s going on on the planet as the seasons change.
Pillsbury developed a system for taking control of the entire manufacturing process for space food, ensuring food safety for the Apollo astronauts.
Today a commercially developed re-usable compression garment is a NASA tech transfer that saves new mothers all around the world.
Technologies created for the historic moonwalk advanced into spinoffs that benefit people on Earth.
Humming as they go, but softly to comply with noise limits on the space station, the Astrobees can take environmental readings or perform inventory.
Scientists can measure disruptions to determine how communications signals have been affected by these atmospheric bubbles.
Drawing on six decades of spaceflight experience, NASA has re-engineered the suit worn on the space shuttle.
The team leading NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission has officially selected a sample collection site.
NASA and the National Park Service are working together to help park managers understand the impact of outdoor lighting and noise on animals in our national parks.
NASA’s satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning in remote regions.
Saffire is a series of Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments designed to investigate flame growth and material flammability in space.
Earth blue, rocket red, and lunar silver. It’s the new identity for NASA’s Artemis Program.
A new ultraviolet detection system developed at NASA Langley in Hampton, Virginia, can be used to remotely monitor power lines.
This NASA technology transfer literally stops tall towers from shaking in their tracks.
Understanding why materials burn is the primary goal of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Fire Safety Laboratories.
Today Openstack is the most used open source cloud computing platform in our connected world. And it all started in a NASA lab.
Breathtaking to look at while dormant, when Alaska’s volcanoes awaken they can pose a serious threat to residents and industry.
When in doubt, leave it out. The FAA is working to make traveling with lithium batteries safer.
The SpaceX launch was a partnership that helped successfully launch four NASA missions into space.
NASA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association have teamed up to share NASA technology transfer opportunities.
When scientists and engineers developed a humanoid robot for space exploration, they lent a robotic hand to those in need on Earth as well.
FAA researchers are working to get the lead out of the gasoline used by general aviation planes.
Teams of scientists will continue the legacy of the Apollo missions by studying pieces of the Moon that have been carefully stored and untouched for nearly 50 years.
The computer programmers were tasked with analyzing the first photon cloud from ICESat-2.
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968.
When we send astronauts to the Moon or Mars for long stays, we’re going to need a new class of power.
Celebrating the holidays in space has been a tradition for as long as astronauts have traveled to space.
The FAA and United States Department of Agriculture work hand-in-hand researching innovative techniques to reduce wildlife hazards.
If you want to see an out of this world holiday display, check out the light shows at some of the NASA Visitors Centers this season.
More traditions than superstitions, NASA has a few rituals that help soothe nerves in tense situations.
Developing the technology that will take humans to Mars will lead to advances in capabilities here on Earth.
NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock will help space navigators pinpoint a spacecraft’s location anywhere in space.
The Marsbee team hopes to send flapping wing flyers the size of bumblebees with cicada sized wings to Mars.
Runway safety area improvements have been made at hundreds of commercial airports, protecting both passengers and crew.
When you get tired of today’s shopping frenzy, take a break and celebrate Black Hole Friday with NASA.
Although they have fewer personal options for the meal, the astronauts can still enjoy a special Thanksgiving dinner on the International Space Station.
Every year more than seventy thousand women die from post-birth bleeding complications.
This novel robotic system could provide all-access mobility on any world with an atmosphere.
This mission will provide autonomous navigation capabilities a large distance away from Earth.
Astronauts on the International Space Station are growing their own complex crystal gardens.
The collaborative design of UVA’s new Link Lab puts researchers at the intersection of the cyber and physical worlds.
When it comes to navigating around obstacles, the sky’s the limit for these climbing robots.
Ambient backscatter is a new way for devices to communicate without any on-board batteries.
The AZURE mission will investigate the energy exchange that occurs in the region where particles from space intermingle with Earth’s atmosphere creating the aurora borealis.
As researchers put their technical expertise to work, the resulting aircraft improvements ultimately helped the Allies win the war.
The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory used data from satellites to produce a map that showed the surface displacement from the earthquakes.
Creating a safe environment for astronauts is the number one priority for all crew missions. But who do astronauts call when they have a fire in space?
Whether you’re accessing saved pictures or large files of data, have you plugged into the cloud today? If so, you can thank NASA for that.
One of the problems NASA faced when planning its first crewed space missions was how to ensure that the food astronauts took with them was safe.
Dressing up for Halloween is becoming a popular tradition across the globe ---- and into space.
NASA is preparing for its next giant leap and recently unveiled the new Artemis program identity.
It was the 221st spacewalk performed in support of space station assembly, but it’s the first to be conducted entirely by women.
Today the Federal Aviation Administration’s Wildlife Hazard Mitigation Program continues to focus on reducing wildlife hazards.
The United States Postal Service released two new stamps to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.
The interior of Aquarius provides a unique location for NASA to study behavioral effects of space flight.
With the successful completion of its mechanical environmental testing, the James Webb Space Telescope is another step closer to a launch in 2021.
Christopher C. Kraft was one of the core team members who helped put humans in space and on the Moon.
The FAA’s pioneering work in fire science helps advance improvements in aircraft cabin safety.
Conditions in the ionosphere sometimes create plasma bubbles which can distort communications signals.
Alaska is called the last frontier. Adding to its reputation as an untamed land are more than 130 volcanoes.
This mission marks the first time a green propellant has been used as the propulsion system for a satellite.
Twin cameras on the Mars 2020 rover will allow it to “see” stereoscopically, much like we use two eyes to give us depth perception.
In the reduced gravity environment of the International Space Station, liquids behave differently than they do on Earth.
In the adjoining control room at NASA Langley’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, researchers analyze what’s happening to the model inside.
OSIRIS-REx is leisurely circling the asteroid, about a mile from its center, getting ready to resume the science operations that will ultimately bring a sample of Bennu back to Earth.
With the help of on-orbit astronauts, researchers have been able to conduct thousands of experiments in microgravity.
Flexible robots may move from the world of Spiderverse villains to viable crew members for deep space exploration.
NASA continued preparation for the Artemis I mission with a successful water flow test at Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B.
For decades, the music of The Rolling Stones has had global reach here on Earth. Now the band’s influence extends all the way to Mars.
Specially designed safety areas protect aircraft that might accidentally overrun the runway.
Industry experts added their expertise to NASA’s Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge.
Flying close to the sun is a dangerous task, but the Parker Solar Probe is performing with flying colors.
NASA uses RFID technology to track food and supplies in space. Now airlines are using this same technology to track your bag.
As a result of Artemis, NASA will be able to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
NASA’s Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER mission, will study the extraordinary physics of neutron stars.
The Twins Study was the first biomolecular view into how the human body responds to spaceflight.
The test provided valuable insight into the launch abort system’s performance, making sure it would work should an emergency occur.
Tissue chips behave much like an astronaut’s body in space, rapidly experiencing changes often associated with aging.
For anyone who wants more than just pretty pictures, this app provides information about the science behind Spitzer’s stunning images.
This rover chassis is freshly painted and wrapped in sterile film, waiting to take its place in exploration history.
Astrobee will test how robots might assist crew or perform caretaking duties on spacecraft.
RainCubes could relay updated information about storm movement and effectively predict amounts of rain, snow, sleet, and hail anywhere on the globe.
A NASA DEVELOP team utilized Earth-observing data to help communities in the Ohio Valley.
NASA conducts analog missions, or field tests, in locations that have physical similarities to extreme space environments.
From now until September 30th, you can submit your name to fly aboard the next Mars rover.
Robots can land on the Moon and drive on Mars, but how do they explore places they can’t reach?
Earth blue, rocket red, and lunar silver. It’s the new identity for NASA’s Artemis Program.
Several sports medicine groups and teams are already using the innovative product to deliver critical compression therapy.
High thin cirrus clouds are invisible to most remote sensing technology, but with LIDAR, researchers can generate precise three-dimensional profiles showing the vertical structure of any cloud in the sky.
To ensure the safety of prepackaged foods for space, NASA partnered with the Pillsbury Company to create a new approach to quality control.
A 3D printing process applies nanomaterials, layer by layer, to create tiny sensors that could give us information about planetary bodies or astronaut health.
Never before has a spacecraft from Earth circled so close to such a small space object.
ICESat-2 has successfully demonstrated its ability to provide the precise measurements researchers will need to monitor even small changes in Earth’s ice sheets.
A faint seismic signal detected by the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structures or SEIS instrument on InSight appears to have indeed come from inside Mars.
With precision pointing, ASTERIA can stare at a star for long periods and measure small changes in the star’s brightness.
Stratospheric ozone reduces the amount of harmful Ultraviolet radiation reaching Earth’s surface.
NASA is world famous for the development of space-tailored polymers, but like all materials sent to space, they must be tested before they can be used.
Much like ice melting and refreezing, shape memory alloy transformation is reversible, allowing the wing to fold and unfold.
GPS was a new idea when John Deere began using the technology to measure crop yields and help farmers determine seed productivity.
Living in space isn’t just about the technology, but about the people who believe in teamwork, vigilance, and responsibility.
Space station astronauts are testing navigation techniques to compensate for the challenges of taking steady, clean sights on a vehicle hurtling through space.
The Viking project, managed by teams at NASA Langley, gave us our first high resolution images of Mars.
Two strong earthquakes recently rattled Southern California and the resulting damage can be seen from space.
A worldwide audience watched and listened when American Astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the Moon.
A full-scale Lunar Excursion Module Simulator could be suspended from the gantry’s steel frame, so astronauts could practice piloting the LEM the final one hundred fifty feet before landing on the moon.
In the 1960’s Charles Schultz created comic strips depicting Snoopy on the Moon, capturing public excitement about America’s achievements in space.
If you missed the fireworks on the 4th of July, you still have time to catch these celestial outbursts in dramatic red, white, and blue.
These unpredictable bubbles can disrupt key communications and GPS signals without warning.
Several companies joined NASA to support university teams as they tried to extract water from a simulated lunar surface.
This small spacecraft the size of a mini-refrigerator is packed with cutting-edge green technology.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket left the launchpad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center early in the morning on June 25. Among the 24 satellites onboard were four NASA technology and science payloads.
NASA successfully demonstrated that the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort system can outrun a speeding rocket while pulling astronauts to safety.
Astronauts exploring the Moon’s South Pole are going to need help keeping lunar dust out of hard to reach places.
The integration of glass cockpits into both future airliners and modern spacecraft like Orion, continue to make this work an aviation success!
In keeping with the spirit of the Wright Brothers and other American innovators, the Centennial Challenge prizes are offered to independent inventors.
In the adjoining control room at NASA Langley’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, researchers analyze what’s happening to the model inside.
The Mars Helicopter is what’s called a technology demonstrator. Its sole goal is to show we can actually do this mission.
On long-duration space missions, astronauts will have to grow their own food and time spent tending plants is time that can’t be spent on scientific exploration.
In an unprecedented sharing of discovery, 84 researchers have released their key findings from NASA’s landmark Twins Study.
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are building the Mars 2020 rover and the high def cameras the rover will use as eyes are its latest additions.
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology. Now Artemis is the name of NASA’s program to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024.
Astronauts on the International Space Station conduct a variety of scientific research, but how do they get the results of those experiments back to Earth?
Now some of the spectacular images recorded by Earth-observing satellites have been put together in NASA’s new book, “Earth.”
A new public tool developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory gives anyone interested in checking out the Mars Weather website – an up-to-date weather report on Mars.
Busy as a bee, or in this case, Astrobee. These robots are working hard on the International Space Station.
Music is as much a part of human nature as the drive to explore, so it’s no wonder music plays a role in space history.
NASA will join an international crew on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean this summer to prepare for future deep space missions.
The daring twins seem to have reached their limit. It has been over a month since engineers have heard from MarCO.
NASA is giving the public a chance to send their names, stenciled on a chip, to the Red Planet.
Preparing food to eat in space is not an easy task. But high school students in Virginia have proven, for a second time, that they were up to the challenge.
The Open Source Rover created by engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab is a scaled down version of Curiosity you can build yourself.
More than 500 miles of Kentucky’s northern border is defined by the Ohio River. But the Ohio and its tributaries are prone to flooding and the results can be disastrous.
NASA’s InSight Lander has recorded for the first time ever a marsquake, kicking off a new scientific field: Martian seismology!
A type of heat shield, or aeroshell, is needed to protect the spacecraft as they enter the atmosphere. And that rigid heat shield must fit inside the diameter of the rocket.
The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, or HP3, will measure how easily heat moves through the subsurface of Mars.
A small satellite designed to search for new planets beyond our solar system recently looked down at Earth to capture an image of California’s “City of Stars.”
NASA has shared a proud association with the late Charles M. Schultz and his American icon Snoopy since the Apollo missions began.
The DNA of the entire aviation industry is infused with NASA technology. And NASA flies with you, every time you take to the skies.
FAA engineers evaluate the data from heavy duty test vehicles to produce improved pavement design and establish standards for new materials used on runways.
LIDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing method, similar to radar. Instead of radio waves, light in the form of a pulsing laser is used to make precise measurements.
Mallory Johnston helps 3D print habitats out of concrete using Martian or lunar simulant. But these habitats could also be used to provide emergency relief.
Previously these technologies were used to take NASA scientists to Mars every day, but with Access Mars, anyone in the world can ride along.
Since 2001, thousands of material samples and specimens have been tested in the four suitcase-like containers positioned outside the International Space Station.
By heating available ice as propellent, SPARROW solves the issue of carrying additional fuel to Europa.
Satellite data can be used to look at the large-scale feedback of fire and smoke on the climate system and on air quality.
A method to crush and heat space trash could turn it into inert insulation materials to protect astronauts from space radiation.
Existing folding wings require an actuation system that is bulky, and requires multiple parts including hydraulics, pneumatics, and electric motors.
Today, SAGE III is safely installed where no continuous Earth-observing instrument has gone before, on the outside of the International Space Station.
A fleet of small satellites, equipped with sensors could enable real-time mitigation of collisions with orbital debris.
For astronauts on orbit, the Isspresso machine makes space a little bit more like home.
The pictures Viking sent to Earth are helping scientists today pick landing sites for Mars missions in the future.
Pilots have long been training on virtual reality simulators, but these have limitations. It’s challenging to replicate how each aircraft feels.
Using technology similar to what NASA used on the Apollo 15 mission, LIDAR could be used to create maps of both vegetation and surface roughness that would help firefighters find the easiest path to safety.
To make sure all components of the Webb observatory are prepared to handle the brutal mechanical conditions the telescope may face during launch, technicians and engineers are intentionally putting it through punishing tests.
With concerns about crew safety and return from the proposed space station, researchers at Langley begin working on a re-entry vehicle to bring astronauts home.
In experiments conducted on the station, medical researchers found a way to combine two liquids incapable of mixing on Earth.
Mastering an extravehicular activity, or spacewalk would be crucial in proving that NASA was ready to actually put a man on the moon.
Scientists are now able to conduct agricultural experiments in less time with fewer resources, all without beating around the soybean bush.
When astronauts like Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin came to NASA Langley to train, they could often be found at the Lunar Landing Research Facility, an iconic structure known as the gantry.
Currently, a spacecraft’s position in space is determined by measuring the time it takes a signal from Earth to reach a spacecraft and rebroadcast back to Earth. But NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock could change that.
Explore NASA Home and City, a new interactive web site that showcases about 130 spinoff technologies in a virtual space. From cell phone cameras to fire equipment, NASA is closer than you think.
You can take snapshots of a location on Earth to share with friends or colleagues with a NASA app that lets you explore Earth your way.
The Van Allen probes were designed to study changes in the size, shape, and intensity of the Van Allen radiation belts.
James Baughman uses his background in photography and chemistry to understand material failures, but he uses his imagination to see pictures in the electron microscope scans.
In 2004, John Deere contracted with NASA to modify their GPS receivers to tap into NASA’s global network of ground stations, making self-driving tractors a reality.
With operations extended until 2021, both researchers and citizen scientists are excited to see what new surprises Juno will unveil about mysterious Jupiter.
The massive Martian dust storm last summer proved to be too much for spunky little Opportunity.
NASA is pleased to report that Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 is once again able to peer deep into the universe.
Habitats, robots, vascular tissue and communication. NASA is looking to creative thinkers to help fill some technology gaps.
An aerial vehicle that could take off and land multiple times would let us see much more of Mars.
More than 70 million miles from Earth, NASA’s OSIRIS REx is in orbit around asteroid Bennu.
MarCO, short for Mars Cube One, was the first interplanetary mission to use a class of mini-spacecraft called CubeSats.
Swirling white clouds, deep blue oceans, and multicolored landscapes are brought to life in a dramatic new collection of images from NASA’s Earth-observing satellites.
NASA’s Additive Construction with Mobile Emplacement project is developing technology to build structures on planetary surfaces using in-situ resources.
Sustainable technologies designed for space have resulted in technology transfer products that improve life on Earth. One of those spinoffs puts farmers in close contact with their crops.
Although today’s weather experiments provide an enormous amount of weather information, none provide a global view of what’s happening inside a storm.
The NASA Selfies app lets you generate snapshots of yourself in a virtual spacesuit, posing in front of more than 30 eye-catching locations.
As the JPL team prepped the chassis of the Mars 2020 rover for painting, they had only one goal in mind: to get the rover as close to perfect as possible.
Through a NIAC grant, two companies are exploring the possibility of using a Direct Fusion Drive to revolutionize interplanetary travel.
Technology drives exploration. But it takes a diverse and creative workforce to make those technologies a reality.
By timing how long it takes individual photons to leave the satellite, reflect off the surface, and return to the receiver telescope on the satellite, NASA can precisely measure surface heights below.
Engineers and scientists. Technicians and astronauts. Women at NASA are shaping how we explore our home and the universe.
Would you like to build a rover of your own? JPL has published an open source design that could help you put wheels on the ground.
Instead of waiting for updates with no information about flights on the ground, air traffic managers now have access to fast updates for every flight thanks to Sherlock.
Creating virtual landscapes is one of the applications that could be used by scientists to change the way NASA does science.
NASA is pleased to report the James Webb Space Telescope has successfully passed another series of critical milestones as it continues its march to the launchpad.
Small orbital debris poses a threat to spacecraft. Significant damage to two space shuttle windshields was caused by debris no larger than a fleck of paint.
It’s a chilly 2 degrees Fahrenheit today, with expected lows near 138 degrees below zero. Now you can get a daily weather report on Mars.
It weighs less than a pair of shoes, uses less power than a Wi-Fi router, and has to dig on another planet.
Astronauts in orbit often miss the comforts of home – from favorite foods to a steaming cup of coffee.
By following the path of the Curiosity rover, Access Mars users can view the actual dunes and valleys explored by the spacecraft as they wander through the lonely red desert of Mars.
This interstellar lidar system has the potential to give astronomers detailed information about Exoplanets, those Earth like planets revolving around distant stars.
A new product on the market borrows technology used on the International Space Station to process indoor air to a much cleaner standard.
This cancer treatment research that began in space may soon have life-saving benefits on Earth.
NASA’s ultimate goal for crash tests is to make quicker, quieter, and safer helicopter designs.
They may be the toughest twins in space, and now the Van Allen probes are about to move into the final phase of their mission.
To make materials better, sometimes you have to start with a failure. And if you look hard enough, you can see art in the science.
Made up of a tangle of rods and motors, NASA researchers can’t wait to find out what happens when this shape-shifting robot is rolled out.
Techshot reached out to the plastic experts at Tupperware to develop an alternative to the plant pillow currently used for watering on the space station.
Noctilucent clouds are a unique atmospheric phenomenon that can help scientists understand the flow of energy in the atmosphere.
Their vision is to enable robotic exploration of these asteroid bodies or comets using energy from electrostatic charges.
For decades, Alion Science and Technology Corporation, has produced the coatings used on NASA spacecraft that protect against the harsh environment of space.
ExoTerra Resource has a cost-effective idea for sample return that taps into existing technologies.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is testing a material that could end the need to shovel snow on the tarmac.
Exactly how long is a day on Saturn? The answer, it turns out, was hidden in the rings.
As many of us were preparing to welcome in the New Year, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx was breaking a space exploration record.
Computers actually learn from large data sets to find patterns and make predictions about a star’s properties.
Using current knowledge and projecting into the future, there are teams at NASA Langley designing what is possible every day.
NASA is working on a system that would 3D print a habitat, a road, storage units – whatever astronauts might need to live and work on the Moon or Mars.
Put yourself in the Orion Nebula, or travel to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. A new NASA app puts you in the spacesuit.
Three hundred trillion green photons of light were sent to the ground as ICESat-2 began its mission to monitor Earth’s changing ice.
The first of its kind – a combination recycler and printer – Refabricator uses the recycled filament it creates to make new tools and materials.
A laser instrument, calibrated with a Martian meteorite, will be the first to use forensic techniques on Mars.
Today, underwater training is still the primary spacewalk training method and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is the largest indoor body of water in the world.
Today’s meteorologists have a plethora of ground-based instruments to help forecast the weather, but some new satellites, no larger than a shoebox, may help us see the big picture in great detail.
The masking team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California measures success in millimeters.
After traveling 300 million miles over seven months, touchdown on the surface of Mars took only six and a half minutes and now the two-year mission begins.
Astronauts have a couple of space hacks to make the fruit fly experiments on the International Space Station easier.
Once fully tested, the X-59 plane will begin making supersonic flights over select communities to measure residents’ reactions to any noise they might hear.
On the moon, power generation from sunlight can be very difficult because lunar nights are equivalent to 14 days on Earth.
X-ray observations from the hot outer atmosphere of a star may be scientist’s first evidence of a star gobbling up planetary debris.
NASA scientists have discovered that bright points in the solar atmosphere may give us much more information about changes occurring deep down in the sun.
A team at NASA’s Glenn Research Center is developing a new electronics technology that could survive more than 520 hours in hostile environments.
A spinning structure made up of a series of concentric cylinders could help protect the astronauts from radiation.
Apparently chewing stimulates the production of Th17 cells in the mouth, which could help fight disease in some parts of the body.
Apparently chewing stimulates the production of Th17 cells in the mouth, which could help fight disease in some parts of the body.
Kepler opened up an entirely new field of exoplanet research and now TESS will build on that legacy.
NASA’s Vascularized Tissue Centennial Challenge is looking at a critical need in medicine.
NASA has an incredible amount of available information about the early Apollo missions – information that Immersive VR Education has put to good use in a virtual documentary.
The ICE project will look at Isolation and Confinement in Extreme environments by observing people who spend several months at the South Pole.
A polymer made from that pinene could take the place of existing petroleum-based additives in plastic.
End to end recycling using biology could be used to produce new electronic circuits whenever and wherever the need arises.
Floating dust is a problem for astronauts living on the International Space Station, especially in and around cargo bays when supplies are opened.
Serving as the plumbing inside the icy structure, moulins carry meltwater throughout the ice and control how fast a glacier moves.
RapidScat became the first Earth-observing climate instrument specifically designed to operate from the exterior of the International Space Station.
In this new printing process, metal powders are melted with a laser and deposited on a rotating rod from the inside out.
The FAA is interested in the conductive concrete as a way to reduce weather related delays at airports.
Through the magic of the silver screen, a whole new generation will get to meet one of America’s most notable figures – the first man on the moon.
The Viking spacecraft exceeded all expectations, operating well beyond their design, and producing a huge harvest of scientific data about Mars.
Instead of waiting for updates every one-minute with no information about flights on the ground at airports, air traffic managers have access to fast updates for every flight’s position.
NASA is testing a new technology that could squeeze a much larger aeroshell into a rocket – without the need for a larger rocket.
Tellus Labs has been able to develop a crop prediction model that can predict agricultural yields within one percent of the actual bushels per acre.
Augmented reality isn’t the answer to all testing and training. It’s simply another tool in NASA’s toolbox to help scientists and engineers prepare for the future.
Anyone with a severe food allergy knows the fear of eating at a restaurant where a hidden ingredient could become life-threatening.
Airliners parked at airport gates sometimes get hit by trucks delivering food and loading baggage.
When paramedics couldn’t quite figure out their end product, they turned to researchers at NASA to help them finalize a solution.
For decades NASA has collaborated with commercial companies to bring space technology back to Earth. But NASA is closer to home than you might think.
To provide the highest probability of bringing Opportunity back online, the Opportunity team is increasing the frequency of commands it beams to the rover.
Among several tons of cargo that launched on Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft in November was a unique new 3D printer.
For only the 8th time in human history, NASA has successfully landed on Mars and the red planet has a new robotic resident.
A better understanding of atmospheric turbulence will ultimately help improve weather forecast models anywhere on the globe.
NASA uses ongoing research to develop effective de-icing and anti-icing techniques used to protect both military and commercial aircraft today.
NASA satellite sensors help protect the health of both residents and visitors to Florida beaches.
Engineers from MIT have discovered a trick that promises a new world of applications for condenser technology.
As shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday, NASA is celebrating a Black Friday tradition of their own.
They may be 220 miles from Earth, but even the astronauts on the International Space Station enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.
Dawn’s mission was extended several times as it explored these uncharted worlds, but now the spacecraft is about to run out of hydrazine.
What if we could put that trash to some kind of productive use in space? It would turn waste into a useful resource.
VR won’t replace field work. But it could bring a whole new reality to the way NASA does science.
Kepler opened our eyes to the diversity of planets that exist in our galaxy. And now the retired telescope will pass the torch to NASA’s newest planet hunting mission.
Life hacks are those little tricks that make life easier. And NASA astronauts have a few space hacks of their own.
As researchers put their technical expertise to work, the resulting aircraft improvements ultimately helped the Allies win the war.
Wildfires affect us all so NASA researchers like Amber Soja will continue to use the vantage of space to safeguard our future.
This shape memory alloy can be used as a groundbreaking method to split apart rock formations without explosives.
Now with the help of NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, scientists may have uncovered a unique star in a stellar nursery.
3D printed replacement parts restore local habitat better than artificial reefs made of simple concrete blocks, or sunken ship hulls.
Spitzer has far exceeded its life expectancy, allowing scientists to witness star birth or find planets around other stars.
Besides boosting cognitive functions, the team also observed improvements in both endocrine and cardiovascular health when chocolate is consumed.
The interferon defense for bats is switched on all the time, creating an upfront attack against disease without causing a toxic reaction.
Scientists can shift the frequencies of electric and magnetic fields to the audible range, and we can actually listen to the eerie sounds of space.
Drugs that target this blood vessel generation hold considerable promise for preventing tumor growth and for destroying existing tumors by depriving them of their vascular supply.
While farmers have always looked to the weather to predict their harvest, a new tool uses NASA satellite images to predict crop yield almost to the kernel.
Chances are you use NASA-developed technologies every day and a new interactive web site allows you to discover NASA in your own backyard.
The James Webb Space Telescope is one of the most ambitious and technically complex missions NASA has ever set its focus on.
Thanks to an Ireland-based company, you can follow in Neil Armstrong’s steps on a virtual trip to the moon.
Perhaps through play, generations of girls will dream even bigger than those who came before them.
For five days, the balloon floated through the stratosphere giving scientists their first 3-D look at these electric blue clouds.
What if teams from across the country could work on the same task at the same time – all without leaving their desks.
This web-based application utilizes an easy-to-use map interface and nearly two decades of images collected by NASA’s Earth observing satellites.
These NASA sensors can be networked together to monitor large aerosol clouds or used as a wearable monitor for miners or first responders to manage their exposure to hazardous conditions.
Using a scanning electron microscope, researchers from NASA and Florida State University will examine every aspect of crystalline growth on the International Space Station.
When Speedo needed to test their new space-age swimsuit, they turned to the experts at NASA Langley who had been reducing drag on aircraft for decades.
Under normal conditions, water quality tests find a few hundred of these cells per liter. But samples this summer contain more than one million of the phytoplankton cells.
One of NASA’s current Centennial Challenges looks at a critical need in medicine as teams try to create vascularized tissue in the lab.
After 11 years of extraordinary planetary science and unprecedented engineering feats, NASA’s Dawn mission is coming to an end.
NASA is investigating AR and VR technologies that could be used by scientists to bring remote sites back to the lab.
It’s been almost 100 days since anyone has heard from the Opportunity Rover, but it’s not too late to show your support.
Testing technologies in this challenging underworld is not easy, but the tests teach us things that are hard to learn in the lab.
Implants made with volcanic ash are porous like real bone but would dissolve in the body within 18 months as the new bone forms and heals.
Planning the mix of people with the right skills and temperaments for long-duration space missions is just one puzzle waiting to be solved.
Although the causes of food allergies remain unknown, many theories involve the disruption of our body’s natural bacterial composition.
If we could put trash to some kind of productive use in space, it would turn waste into a useful resource.
By combining detailed soybean field measurements with the sophisticated model of JPL’s Multi-layer canopy model, scientists conduct agricultural experiments in less time with fewer resources.
A specifically designed nanogel the team calls can be injected into a victim to absorb and neutralize snake venom after a bite.
When combined with radar and other satellite data, NASA’s Geostationary Lightning Mapper will show when thunderstorms are stalled or when they gather strength.
A rooftop antenna at Hampton University has access to information about sea surface temperatures, air quality indicators, cloud phases, land surface properties, even local power outages.
Here’s a simple solution that will keep you and your family safe, even if you were left in the dark after a storm.
Ground-based data generated with the help of citizen scientists will help public health officials take a bite out of the mosquito population.
As wildfires burn, a noxious mix of gases and fine particles enter the atmosphere, creating rivers of smoke that cross the country.
A new drone-mounted inspection system could help inspectors isolate the locations of high voltage grid failures with precision.
Sextants have been used by sailors for centuries. And now a space sextant could become the emergency backup system that would allow future explorers to navigate using the stars.
Engineering is about solving problems. But sometimes the process of solving those problems slows down the solution.
Juno is already returning spectacular results. And now this remarkable spacecraft is going to keep doing what it does best – revealing Jupiter’s secrets.
The Spitzer Space Telescope, the youngest member of NASA’s family of Great Observatories, just turned 15!
As wildfires rage out of control on the ground, NASA is using instruments in the sky to build a comprehensive picture of the fire below.
It’s Pac Man in space as scientists observe what may be a star gobbling up planetary debris.
New inspection technologies such as flash thermography and advanced ultrasonics could supplement visual inspections, supporting the FAA’s ultimate goal of ensuring traveler safety.
Fossilized dinosaur tracks found at NASA Goddard are helping scientists piece together a picture of Maryland in the Cretaceous era.
Applying research to help protect the natural biodiversity of our National Parks is something Julianne Geleynse is passionate about.
Astronauts are helping NASA understand much more than just how to meet physical needs as they prepare for long duration missions.
During her years at NASA, Katherine Johnson became a leader in her field because of her incredible understanding of complex mathematical concepts and now this remarkable woman is turning 100.
Just as weather on Earth brings thunderstorms and gusty winds, the ever-changing sun sometimes hurls massive clouds of solar materials into space that affect life here on Earth.
Research from the National Ecological Observatory Network help national park managers understand the environment to manage the park more effectively.
Science samples recently returned from the International Space Station could provide a better model for developing safer and more effective drugs to combat circulatory diseases.
It’s not elementary, but thanks to its own Watson, SHERLOC will perform fundamental scientific investigations on the surface of Mars.
Before scientists and engineers could build the James Web Space Telescope, they had to start with the task of creating new technological innovations the world had never seen.
Two new studies are exploring how certain concentrations of chocolate can boost cognitive function and actually increase attentiveness.
A team from JPL is designing electrostatic flight technologies that could use charged particles on the surface to explore airless worlds.
Link Lab at UVA is an idea designed to generate a collision of ideas that rapidly drive innovation and help us solve today’s grand challenges.
Modern farming is extremely high-tech. But how does the farmer know just where he needs fertilizer the most?
Imagine being able to observe any location on our dynamic planet in near real time, view Earth’s frozen regions, and look at current events like tropical storms, volcanic eruptions, or wildfires.
For almost six decades, researchers at Langley kept the wheels spinning, testing airplane brake systems and tire wear on vehicles like the space shuttle.
Colorful crystal gardens are often grown in science classrooms. But NASA is growing crystal gardens to learn about self-organizing chemical reactions, in space.
What started as an interest in fire safety led inventors at NASA’s Glenn Research Center to develop a sensor that saves lives.
The storm is coming to an end, but it may be several weeks before Opportunity is able to phone home once more.
NASA and the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Security Administration have been working on Kilopower, a small, lightweight fission power system that could be used where there is little sunshine.
Sensors were used to measure air flow and drag on 60 different fabrics at various wind speeds to make a swimsuit that would propel through water faster and more efficiently.
A synthetic field laboratory at JPL allows scientists to perform experiments in hours that would have required months if they were using actual plants.
Researchers are developing a new treatment for the 5 million people a year who are snakebite victims.
They bite, they buzz, and pesky mosquitos spread diseases that kill nearly 2.7 million people a year. But NASA has an app that can reduce mosquito problems.
Using lasers, NASA could reliably move massive amounts of data in real time, shortening the space communications delay.
The next NASA iTech cycle is open now and NASA is looking for solutions that have the potential to enhance future space exploration.
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to navigation, but astronauts are being asked to test some new ideas about how to use a very old technology.
Thirteen science flybys --- and counting. Juno’s mission to the largest planet in our solar system has been officially extended.
Mars 2020 will send home the clearest, most sophisticated images of Mars we have ever laid eyes on.
The same device used by NASA to stop rockets from shaking has been placed on a tall building in Brooklyn.
NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory is a telescope designed to detect X-ray emissions from very hot regions of the universe.
If you float a spacecraft at a specific Lagrange point, you could lower a tethered platform to the surface of a moon or planet to explore.
Imagine thinking about an idea, talking about a solution, and going right into a laboratory to test it out.
GPS was a new idea when John Deere began using the technology to measure crop yields and help farmers determine seed productivity.
A team at JPL propose harvesting wind energy from the atmosphere of Jupiter to fuel a spacecraft.
While there are some promising new treatments in development to combat disease, for many patients, these treatments come too late in the fight to make a difference.
To colorize the images, scientists previously painstakingly combined three shots of the same target taken with red, green, and blue filters.
A mosaic of six pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope captures in stunning detail the energy debris from a supernova.
The latest innovations are all under one roof in a first of its kind lab, as the University of Virginia School of Engineering changes the face of higher education.
When conditions are right, airplane icing can occur at high altitudes in any kind of weather.
Although meteorites fall all over the world, they get concentrated in Antarctica so NASA expeditions search the ice for these space rocks.
Satellites record electromagnetic fluctuations that can be converted into audio files using computer algorithms.
In a new NASA e-book, readers get an inside look at station operations through the eyes of the ten space flight directors.
A team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center uses 3-D modeling software to create tangible models that bring astronomy to the blind.
We still need professional composers, songwriters, and musicians, but embracing AI technology might actually create the 21st century’s Mozart.
A transformer hitched to the back of a rover could unfold itself into an array of computer-controlled mirrors that would shed light on dark places on the moon.
When we send astronauts to the moon or to other planets for long stays, we’re going to need a new class of power that has never been needed before.
Sophisticated computer modeling can be used to look at everything that could happen, end-to-end, from the moment a spacecraft touches the atmosphere to the time it comes to rest on the surface of another planet.
Most of what we know about our place in the Universe has come from observations of the night sky from Earth. But stargazers are concerned with the number of places where light is interfering with our night view.
Jupiter's weather layer is more massive than expected, containing about one percent of Jupiter's total mass – Earth's is less than one millionth its mass.
A new ultraviolet detection system developed at NASA Langley in Hampton, Virginia, can be used to remotely monitor power lines.
The asteroid impact over Russia five years ago was a cosmic wake-up call - drawing worldwide attention to what needs to be done to detect asteroids before they strike our planet.
A LIDAR technology may have the potential to image individual continents on Earth-like exoplanets.
Cloud patterns can be used to determine the size and location of specific plant and animal habitats with unprecedented detail and accuracy.
A new repellent buffer, which lets the liquid inside find its way out, not only makes plastic bottles reusable and more easily recyclable, it helps keep plastic products clean.
Imagine a patch to warn you of cardiovascular health issues – an impending heart attack or stroke.
If you live by a noisy highway or airport, your house windows could be made to work like noise-canceling headphones for the whole house.
The LED keeps learning new tricks. And the latest is an ability to use light as a wireless connection.
A glitch-free communication connection is important because you don’t want to miss any of the data coming from deep space back to Earth.
If we could somehow put a geologist’s skills into a rover, it could notice interesting rock formations and decide by itself what to study.
If humans are destined for deep space, we need to understand how living in space affects health.
A radical design for sampling comets and small asteroids, and bringing those samples back splits the navigation and sampling tasks rather than relying on one complex vehicle.
A radical design for sampling comets and small asteroids, and bringing those samples back splits the navigation and sampling tasks rather than relying on one complex vehicle.
One of NASA’s four Great Space Observatories gets a new lease on life after retirement, hunting for exoplanets.
Small sensors have been designed that can be fastened securely onto a leaf, providing clues to a plant’s water content.
Although radar is unable to search through water, FINDER is useful for detecting heartbeats through rooftops, helping rescue workers quickly identify people who need help.
If you think winter had a relentless hold on Earth, you should see the cold front that surprised astronomers in a galaxy millions of light-years away.
Using technology similar to what NASA used on the Apollo 15 mission, LIDAR could be used to create maps that would help firefighters find the easiest path to safety.
Farmers have been using self-driving technology for over a decade – in part due to collaboration between NASA and John Deere.
As scientists study the Goddard fossil using high today’s high-tech equipment, they are piecing together a picture of how animals interacted more than 100 million years ago.
NASA’s Mars 2020 mission will have a record number of cameras onboard so scientists on Earth will be able to study Mars in vivid detail.
Researchers are using what they know about the miniaturization of electronics for CubeSats to create robotic probes that can map the inside of glaciers.
Scientists can shift the frequencies of electric and magnetic fields to the audible range, and we can actually listen to the eerie sounds of space.
Using both ultraviolet and visible light, TEMPO will monitor the air across North America... from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
It may be a challenge to get to a glacier in Antarctica, but each year since 1976, NASA has sent teams to the ice plateaus to search for little pieces of our solar system.
For decades, Tupperware has been synonymous with keeping food fresh. Now the experts at Tupperware are bringing innovative design and their knowledge of plastics to NASA's Veggie project.
Imagine being able to tell how hot a vehicle is getting, how fast it's moving, or how it's going to touch down before a spacecraft ever flies.
The Robotic External Leak Locator provides directionally sensitive measurements of the amount and kinds of gases present outside the station.
New software on a NASA-NOAA satellite allows researchers to make night light images clearer, more accurate, and more readily available.
The first lightning detector in a geostationary orbit continually looks for lightning flashes in the Western Hemisphere, helping forecasters alert the public to dangerous weather.
This NIAC team proposes making bricks out of a powder that scatters the sun's radiation rather than absorbing it to keep spacecraft cold in space.
This NIAC team proposes making bricks out of a powder that scatters the sun's radiation rather than absorbing it to keep spacecraft cold in space.
Using various wavelengths of light, a NASA team was able to create the first high resolution map of a nebula in 3D.
While trying to solve the problem of overturned robots, researchers at the University of Illinois have turned to the insect world for some technological inspiration.
NASA is inviting scientists from across the globe to use large scale data sets to build prediction models for the complex mystery of marine strandings.
If your area is a bit too bright to view a meteor shower, you can check an interactive map of accredited “Dark Sky Places” where visitors can go to enjoy the wonders of a starry night.
All of NASA's interplanetary launches have been from Florida – but that is about to change!
A drone-mounted UV camera system provides a cost-effective way to safely inspect high voltage power grids.
Lagrange points are unique places in space where the dynamic and gravitational forces of two bodies balance. And in the case of Mars moon, Phobos, the L1 point is an ideal location for refining tether operations.
Although opiate drugs reduce pain, they come with significant side effects, including motor impairment, respiratory problems, and even more common, the risk of opium-dependency.
The house-sized asteroid entered the atmosphere at blazing speed, blowing apart only 14 miles above the ground, creating a shock wave that injured hundreds of people.
A new NASA project is developing technology to study “omics” – those fields of microbiology that are important to human health. And 3-D printed instruments are key pieces of the project.
The dinosaur age meets the space age when dinosaur tracks are discovered at a NASA Center.
Unprecedented technical challenges require an unprecedented approach. And your innovation could be just what NASA and our industry partners are looking for.
Spitzer's new mission is finding and measuring exoplanets, orbiting alien stars, which is a task nobody had even considered possible, back when the project was designed and launched.
Aurorasaurus, a citizen science web site, uses public posts to help scientists track geomagnetic storms.
During a sleep study for astronauts, researchers discovered that the same system contributing to our sense of balance can be stimulated to promote sleep.
Called the Veil Nebula, this remnant of a once massive star has been photographed by Hubble, not once, but twice.
NASA is currently developing a system using a palm-sized device that uses lasers to encode and transmit data.
When Dr. Rodefeld needed experts in flywheel technology and fluid flow patterns to help develop a heart pump, he turned to NASA.
The “Next Rembrandt” Project developed computer software and deep learning algorithms based on how Rembrandt used geometry, materials, and composition when painting his portraits to create a masterpiece.
A new generation of satellites helps researchers understand global environmental changes that impact our world every day.
In a world of ice, spring may not be obvious, but even in Antarctica, mats of green form on the underside of the sea ice as algae reproduces during the spring season.
A team at North Carolina State University has created an alloy that is actually liquid at room temperature.
Robert Goddard realized that liquid propellants offered advantages over solid-fuel and he set out to overcome the challenges for his new designs.
Weather events can be life or death matters, so researchers at NASA are working hard to develop forecasts that could save lives.
You could help NASA search WISE images for stars with hidden disks of dust around them.
They serve as a glacier's plumbing, but mapping these icy labyrinths could be the secret to exploring icy worlds.
You may not want a computer chip implanted under your skin, but wearing it on your sleeve could be the next fashion statement in security.
Why do whales and dolphins get stranded along coasts worldwide? A new study may have ruled out one cause.
U.S snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics looked like astronauts, both on the course and on the medals platform.
To accurately predict rainfall amounts, scientists need to understand the ratio of large drops to small or medium drops in a storm.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are currently testing a milk-based alternative to plastic that is both biodegradable and edible.
Although high efficiency filters are installed throughout the station and the astronauts vacuum regularly, the airborne particles can still get into an astronaut's eyes and nose.
Chemicals embedded in a silicon-based tape have a reaction when exposed to hydrogen, causing a color change.
A team is working to develop small cubesats that can actually map out the interior of an asteroid.
Microbrewers are modifying a technology for storing carbon dioxide developed by NASA so it can be used for beer.
A culinary experiment in the Portland area involves top chefs who are now testing bacon-flavored seaweed as a food additive.
A cranberry extract may actually succeed where traditional antibiotics have failed, by stopping bacterial infections from spreading in the first place.
By creating the circuit materials from plant starches and cellulose, new electronics could be truly biodegradable.
A new additive could give milk chocolate the benefits of dark chocolate, without the bitter taste.
Cyberforests will help forest managers determine which types of trees can best re-establish after catastrophic events, like wildfires or drought.
Raw honey treatment could benefit people in the western world where the threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria is growing.
Reapplying an idea from the 1960s to space technology is helping NASA achieve cryogenic temperatures in space.
With Access Mars, the technologies once used to take NASA scientists to Mars every day will now allow anyone in the world to ride along.
There are still a lot of bugs to work out, but the ability to get up after a fall would be a great jumping off point for self-righting robots.
Getting measurements from the surface of Phobos could be a pre-cursor mission to sending a crew to Mars.
Powerful Santa Ana winds fueled a fast-moving fire that swept into Ventura, California and the blaze soon became the largest fire in California history.
As fans gear up for the big game this weekend, here are some space and football facts to get you ready!
The January Super Blue Blood Moon provided NASA scientists a rare opportunity for study.
Scientists from the Missouri University of Science and Technology have shed new light on inkless printing.
More than two million children each year are incorrectly prescribed antibiotics for an infection they don't have.
Technologies, like MOXIE are game-changing – enhancing NASA's human exploration program, and giving astronauts the tools they need to become Earth independent.
De-constructing a coffeemaker to learn how designers solved the engineering challenge of brewing coffee, quickly led to the realization that the entire process of coffee-making effectively matched engineering curriculum.
With the help of an artificial intelligence network, engineers have found a way to describe pictures posted on Facebook.
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have devised a new use for old tires.
As part of a technology transfer program, NASA handed over to the Federal Aviation Administration, a computer software tool that will make landing at US airports even safer over the next few years.
In a new printing process, metal powders are melted with a laser and deposited on a rotating rod from the inside out, changing the way 3D printing can be done.
OPALS, a pathfinder for more advanced versions of laser communications systems, is leading the race for sending high speed data to Earth.
A blood test to look for proteins that are a precursor marker for Alzheimer's could be a valuable gift of time.
Engineers at MIT have been working on robotic arms you can wear over your shoulders, or around your waist. The arms work with a mind of their own, to lend a hand where needed.
Researchers at Rice University have introduced a new, non-invasive, non-surgical cancer-fighting technique they call quadrapeutics.
NASA is keeping an eye on the theoretical physics behind the idea of warp drive ... just in case.
Add-on research in the Great Smoky Mountains helps rangers understand the Park so they can manage it better.
FINDER is useful for detecting heartbeats through rooftops, helping rescue workers quickly identify people who need help.
Before ever battling the flames of a wildfire, the U.S. Forestry Service works with firefighters to identify the best escape routes to designated safety zones.
An inflatable airlock made of non-rigid materials could be incorporated into expandable habitats that would be more efficient to pack and take up much less storage space.
Like a roaring ocean surf, plasma waves in space create a musical chorus all their own.
Older drivers may be more capable of adapting their responses to driving hazards when driving in heavy traffic.
“Non-Newtonian Fluids” can behave like solids OR liquids, thickening or thinning, depending on the mechanical stress put on them. They can even be used to repair roads.
The Triton Hopper concept could take us a hop, skip, and jump closer to objects in the far edges of our solar system.
Can we harvest electricity from the flow of daily rush hour traffic? One inventor thinks so.
NASA's Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER mission, will study the extraordinary physics of neutron stars.
Pictures Viking sent to Earth more than 40 years ago are helping scientists today pick landing sites for Mars missions in the future.
A project by researchers at the University of Washington is developing a new way for devices to communicate without any on-board batteries.
Satellites record electromagnetic fluctuations that can be converted into audio files using computer algorithms.
Often referred to as night lights, satellite images of Earth at night are more than just pretty pictures.
Whether it's for solar surfing or storing liquid oxygen, NASA is looking for a way to achieve cryogenic temperatures in deep space.
When a robot falls down, there's no easy way to get it back on its feet – but a solution could be a click away.
What was once only available to a select group of scientists is now available to all; so anyone with an internet connection can take a walk on Mars.
Using both ultraviolet and visible light, TEMPO will monitor the air across North America – from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; from Mexico City and the Yucatan Peninsula to the Canadian oil sands.
Researchers from the University of Iowa and the United States Geological Survey have developed a rapid response system that uses satellite and GPS data to identify the location of the earthquake and its impact.
Researchers at NASA Langley have come up with a multi-phase project that starts with a robotic airship and ends with a floating city in the clouds of Venus.
Researchers at the University of Buffalo have developed a Doppler radar system that can identify the unique shape and size of person's heart.
LaRC-SI is used in flexible circuitry, advanced composites and adhesives, and as a protective coating for fiber optics and wires.
Chocolatiers hire an army of materials scientists and technology experts to create the conditions that make the perfect piece of chocolate.
In a lot of vital machinery like steam-powered generators, a condenser uses this effect to cool hot gasses, improving the engine's operating cycle.
A 50-year partnership between NASA and the U.S. Army has helped enhance both military and civilian helicopters – validating innovations like cockpit airbags and wire protection systems.
A pet owner can either track data or opt to let the computer forward that information directly to the vet – all in real time.
If you're building an airplane wing, and you want to know just how far it will bend before it breaks... you could just go ahead and break it. But there has to be a better way.
A NASA app monitors an aircraft's current position, altitude, flight route, air traffic, and real-time weather conditions --- and searches for changes in altitudes or routes that can save flight time.
The isolation, absence of family, interacting with the same people, and going months without shipments of fresh food or mail make Antarctica very similar to spaceflight.
When Congress set up NACA, they gave them one primary mission: to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.
The ongoing war against infections has a new weapon today and for a change, it's physical, not chemical or biological.
Food poisoning puts thousands of lives at risk each year, but tracking tainted food just got easier.
With today's advanced LiDAR technology, Langley scientists have a powerful tool to learn even more about our atmosphere.
What if plants were only watered when they needed it – saving both time and water? Sensors about the size of a postage stamp may be the key.
The incredible success of NASA's Viking Mission set the stage for future Mars exploration.
Thanks to observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have some context for the Voyager data.
Sometimes the best innovation, is education, and rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains do their part by teaching people to be stewards of our public lands.
When it came time to update the outdated electromechanical cockpit of the space shuttle Atlantis, a liquid crystal display was the logical choice.
A team at NASA's Glenn Research Center is developing a new electronics technology that could survive more than 520 hours in the hostile environment of Venus.
Smells are collections of very complex molecules. And until now, breaking them down into fundamental components was almost impossible.
As researchers put their technical expertise to work, the resulting aircraft improvements ultimately helped the Allies win the war.
Years ago, Einstein and a partner set out to design a cooling system that was better and safer.
From the Apollo capsule to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, special white coatings protect against the harsh environment of space.
Moving ahead or behind, by more than one time zone when traveling can make people feel miserable and out of sorts, until they re-adjust.
Among the problems a doctor faces in third-world countries is how to sterilize surgical instruments.
Understanding the changing health of an ecosystem is a complex challenge. So park managers in the Great Smoky Mountains use monitoring sensors on the ground and in the air to help protect this diverse landscape.
NASA Langley is world famous for the development of space-tailored polymers, but like all materials sent to space, they must be tested before they can be used.
Manipulating the immune responses of other species to work in a similar way could be just what the doctor ordered to safeguard the human population.
SAGE III will continue Langley’s legacy by taking ozone measurements deeper in the atmosphere than ever before.
A team at Virginia Tech has created a flexible rubber prototype that is the first sonar system to feature both a dynamic emitter and dynamic receivers.
A group of scientists specializing in Aging Research have joined forces with a team of Biological Engineers to create vibrating insoles to keep seniors from falling.
From early aeronautics work that defined the shape of generations of aircraft to ground-breaking advances in Earth science, NASA Langley will continue it history of sustained excellence.
The Visia Complexion Skin Analysis Machine was designed for use by NASA to analyze the effect of radiation on astronauts’ skin.
The robotic system, ISAAC, will be a critical part of aeronautics research at NASA Langley, home to the monster machine.
The incredible success of NASA’s Viking Mission set the stage for future Mars exploration.
An MIT project is a prototype for a glove that could protect the wearer against Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
A unique crossover between culture and technology, has scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab using art to design solar power systems for space.
Accidents in heavy traffic may not be the result of how many cars are on the road, but who is behind the wheel.
Ensuring that food-borne pathogens are not carried to consumers is a priority for fruit growers.
Wildfires can be unpredictable ---- and having an escape route is imperative for the safety of the people fighting these fires.
Have trouble remembering your passwords? Don’t worry – those cumbersome codes may soon go the way of the dinosaurs!
Whitcomb developed a concept known as the area rule which revolutionized aircraft design.
New flight demonstration vehicles, known as x-planes, will test advanced technologies and revolutionary designs.
During recent natural disasters, rescue workers could be seen carrying an orange case marked, FINDER. Inside is a remarkable radar instrument capable of identifying human heartbeats in the rubble.
Researchers at NASA Langley are using CERES instruments to answer long-standing questions about clouds.
Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a nanogenerator to collect the energy from the friction of tires on the road.
Computer researchers are taking a look at bionic teeth that can communicate all sorts of unexpected health information about your daily life.
Computers can actually “learn” from large data sets and find patterns that humans might not otherwise see.
It turns out that both water and air obey the same physical laws of motion, so when Speedo needed to test their new space-age swimsuit, they turned to the experts at NASA Langley.
A special camera on board the International Space Station can be accessed by farmers and ranchers in the Plains states to monitor biomass.
With nature as their inspiration, a team in Germany recently began looking at the optical properties of a variety of plants.
Flaws in a structure can sometimes only be located by looking deep inside with a special technique known as non-destructive testing.
The Human Brain Project will map the millions of connections in a human brain, and create a working electronic version of the brain.
In the 1960s, NASA Langley engineers began searching for ways to better control aircraft touching down in wet weather.
A Europa Clipper design could give us a glimpse of one of the most likely places in the Solar System where microbial life just might exist.
The timing of solar cycle is far from precise, so how can we better predict what’s happening with our closest star?
Scientists analyzing gravitational waves will be able to study black holes directly and, for the first time, will be able to physically measure the black hole itself.
At just the right distance, a sunflower sunshade eclipses the target star and the planets come into view.
Hypersonic vehicle research and improved pacemakers – an accidental discovery in the lab.
Theoretically, it would be possible to build a mechanical nose to analyze the surrounding air and a machine to release a cocktail of chemicals to neutralize the detected smells.
In continuous operation for more than half a century, the aerodynamics affecting hundreds of aircraft and space shuttle models have been tested in Langley’s Transonic Dynamic Wind Tunnel.
Studying global changes in coral reefs is one more way NASA will help us better understand our changing planet, and find ways to protect it.
Inflatable airlocks could be used to shield against radiation or space debris, protecting astronauts as they live and work on planetary surfaces.
A new glue can be used with patches of reinforcing bio-fabric that can repair tears and holes in beating hearts.
Partnering with commercial aerospace companies, NASA Langley Research Center will continue the agency’s development of Quiet Supersonic Technology.
It’s a simple solution that will keep you and your family safe, even if you were left in the dark.
AUDREY is able to track an entire team at once, keeping first responders safe in the field.
Flying 220 miles above Earth, and fixed to the outside of the International Space Station, these unique suitcases help researchers prepare for future space flight.
On Gemini 12, after hours of underwater training to prepare him, Buzz Aldrin solved the riddle of spacewalking.
The astronauts refer to it as, “Snow White, the fairest of them all,” but they’re not talking about the popular fairy tale.
Anyone within the path of totality will see one of nature’s most awe-inspiring sights – a total solar eclipse. Even though totality lasts only a few minutes, brighter stars and planets will be visible.
It’s been dubbed one of the top ten DIY medical devices - this student-designed invention uses the power of the sun to clean surgical instruments.
This high-tech water-powered test facility was often called the world’s largest water gun!
NASA has collected information about several citizen science projects so you can make your own scientific discoveries during the eclipse.
More than 300 million people in the United States could directly view the total solar eclipse – and NASA wants everyone who witnesses the phenomenon to do so safely.
The addition of TDRS-M will update the communications network, enabling groundbreaking science and faster, more flexible communications.
Using the vegetation index obtained through instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, researchers can calculate the greenness of the mule deer habitat from space.
Blue wavelengths, which boost attention and improve our mood during the day, may be the most disruptive kind of light at night.
There are lots of anecdotal reports about what it sounds like during an eclipse, but no one has tackled it with a scientific mind – until now.
This was space from scratch –the tools and technologies necessary for successful human spaceflight had to be developed and tested. So Langley aeronautics engineers were asked to help solve problems far removed from their original training and experience.
Albert Einstein was a man who appreciated practical applications of science. But what’s Einstein got to do with a shot in your arm?
As NASA firmed up plans for a new Space Station, interest in developing a crew emergency rescue vehicle was also growing. What if an emergency happened on station and none of the space shuttles were available?
Research helps us understand and better manage the species that live in America’s National Parks --- as well as those invasive species that try to move in.
Engineers from MIT have discovered a trick that promises a new world of applications for condenser technology.
With a new technique for setting broken bones, doctors can easily check to see how the bone is healing, without breaking out the saw.
Now a NASA tech transfer product just had its first installation on the B2 building in Brooklyn, Brooklyn’s tallest tower.
In the early 1970s, engineers at NASA Langley Research Center literally wrote the playbook for Mars missions.
NASA recently released its 2017-2018 software catalog, which offers an extensive portfolio of software products for a wide variety of technical applications.
Scientists now have a library of high resolution images covering more than 99 percent of the surface of Mars.
Recent drop tests for the Orion capsule, prove that this historic landmark still plays an important role in space exploration.
Viking discoveries go on and on. And 40 years later, Viking is still a mission to celebrate.
Synthetic biology could be used to enable a smart manufacturing tool that would use the Martian atmosphere to tailor printable electronics.
A team from Texas A and M hopes to re-invent robotics with a tensegrity habitat that could be built in space.
Expendable and biodegradable – these high tech paper planes may just be the future of drone delivery.
The SEXTANT/NICER mission will provide autonomous navigation capabilities a large distance away from Earth using x-ray emitting stars as beacons.
Once the country’s goal became putting a man in space, many from this Pilotless Division would transition to a newly formed Space Task Group.
Who’s got the sharpest eye? We’ll see what happens when you turbo-charge a ground-based telescope with Adaptive Optics.
By working backwards, a group of scientists from NASA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, have detected an early signature of certain energetic particles.
Researchers at MIT are turning a science fair demonstration into a high tech innovation by using stomach acid to power a new type of ingestible battery.
Planning the mix of people with the right skills and temperaments for long-duration space missions is just one puzzle waiting to be solved.
The camera actually captured the settling of Martian dust as Viking landed on July 20, 1976, more than two million miles from home.
If we are truly to become space explorers, we have to learn, just as early pioneers did, to live off the land.
NASA is hoping to build on the success of the silicon-based integrated circuits used on Mars landers. But the target this time – Venus.
Several NASA researchers traveled to Mt. Erebus, Earth’s southernmost volcano in Antarctica, to test new technologies in extreme conditions.
Silicon-carbide circuits could not only make exploration of Venus possible, but might be a hot prospect for aircraft engines as well.
As the world watched, a team from NASA took what they had learned about protecting humans in hostile environments, and put it to use.
It won’t age, mold, or mildew. It is safe, recyclable, and environmentally friendly. And best of all, this amazing insulating material can increase the R-value of a wall by more than 40%.
Each year, NASA creates hundreds of new inventions. And through technology transfer, many of these inventions become part of our everyday lives.
Diagnosing depression can be a difficult task, but a blood test could give Doctors an objective evaluation for treatment.
Swinging like a giant pendulum, this Marine helicopter has a crew of crash dummies that are helping to make helicopters safer.
NASA’s Langley Research Center has found a way to determine just how far an airplane wing will bend before it breaks.
A London eye surgeon and an optical physicist have developed a new treatment for age-related macular degeneration inspired by the flaw in the Hubble Telescope.
Formula 1 race teams are looking at a new exhaust system that diverts more of the heat behind their seat, thanks to a NASA polymer.
NASA’s space-based communications system will efficiently close the generation gap, supporting space communications for another 15 years.
The re-setting of your biological clock can take as long as two weeks but a new app for smartphones can help dramatically shorten that adjustment period.
A NASA app monitors an aircraft’s current position, altitude, flight route, air traffic, and real-time weather conditions all while searching for routes that can save flight time.
Doctors are using a special glue to patch holes and seal cuts in hearts and heart arteries, without using stitches, or staples of any kind.
This radical design for sampling comets or small asteroids, and returning those samples splits the job for efficiency.
A team from Columbia and Harvard Universities are perfecting a catalyst for generating cheap hydrogen, powered by sunlight.
The aftermath of a disaster is chaotic. But an inventor, using space shuttle technology, has created a product to keep precious keepsakes safe.
Interest in energy conservation and the soaring cost of jet fuel has manufacturers putting winglets, designed at NASA Langley, on many new planes.
Thirty thousand people have been saved since 1982, because they had, and used, a Personal Locator Beacon when their plane crashed, their boat sank, or they just plain got lost in the wilderness.
By signing up to be a Disk Detective, you could help NASA search WISE images for stars with hidden disks of dust around them.
Using 3D vision and a dedicated processor, Texture Cam is trained to discriminate between boring sand and potentially interesting rocks on Mars.
Starting out on a journey that began 10 years ago, MESSENGER launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida to take an unprecedented look at Mercury. But orbiting a planet so close to the sun is no easy task.
Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory was established in 1917 as the nation's first civilian facility focused on aeronautical research. Their goal was to solve the fundamental challenges of flight.
A proposed micro lander could grab ice from the surface of an icy moon, like Europa, turn it into propellant for ascent, and bring a sample back home.
Scientists in the United Kingdom have developed a renewable plastic made from pine needles.
NASA software can process an image of the entire United States in less than 2 minutes – delivering almost instant forecasts and giving people worldwide precious time to prepare for hazardous conditions.
Hubble’s imaging instruments will help astronomers determine the cosmic fingerprints of the unexplored territory the Voyager spacecraft will pass through.
The spin tunnel at NASA Langley was built to study aircraft stall and spin characteristics with the aim of preventing deadly tailspin accidents.
Stellar Echo Imaging could give astronomers detailed information about Exoplanets – those Earth like planets revolving around distant stars.
With the development of transparent wood, this Maryland team has indeed found a way to raise the glass ceiling.
NASA recently renewed a research partnership with the National Cancer Institute, extending the development of data science to support cancer research.
Floating dust is a problem for astronauts living on the International Space Station, especially in and around cargo bays when supplies are opened.
It’s not every day you see a black and white polka-dot helicopter hanging in the air. But then, not every day is a crash test at NASA Langley!
Using a Direct Fusion Drive to deliver both an obriter and a lander to Pluto has some distinct advantages.
Individuals could actually be identified by the residual microbial signatures they leave behind.
Chewing stimulates the production of Th17 cells in the mouth, which can protect the body against disease.
This milk-based plastic still has clear advantages over petroleum-based products and could be on the market as little as three years.
The mandate of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to find practical solutions to the problems of flight assumed even more importance during World War II.
From a rocket fuel tank to the tops of tall buildings, this NASA technology transfer literally stops shaking in its tracks.
Now scientists will be able to see how water droplets vary in size on a global scale and use that information to improve rainfall or snowfall estimates.
From Hawaii to Australia, NASA scientists will map entire coral reefs using airborne instruments five miles overhead, without ever having to go into the water.
Everyone has a slightly different circadian rhythm, the body’s biological clock that tells us when to sleep and when to wake. Unfortunately, light at night throws our circadian rhythm out of whack.
Aeronautics was about to move from a scientific discipline to an engineering field that would make the airplane much more than a useless oddity.
Developed as a joint project between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, AUDREY, or the Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction, and sYnthesis, can do more than just transmit data.
Fifty thousand orbits and counting. The most data-producing spacecraft at Mars continues to compile sharp, global coverage of the Red Planet.
Looking for a specific software code? You may just find what you’re looking for at software dot nasa dot gov.
In the early 1990’s, researchers at NASA Langley began using an innovative remote sensing technology known as LIDAR, changing the way they looked at clouds.
What is the best way to replace electronics when you can’t get overnight delivery of a new device?
The ICE project, the study observes people who actually spend several months at the South Pole, giving scientists clues about how people will behave in deep space.
In the 1960s, NASA Langley engineers began searching for ways to better control aircraft touching down in wet weather. They quickly saw the benefits of their research for public roadway systems as well.
Perched on the roof of a tall building in Hampton, Virginia, the newly installed Direct Broadcast System joins a network of only 10 antennas like it in the country.
For more than 40 years, researchers at NASA Langley have had their eyes on the atmosphere.
Pulsing like lighthouse beacons, NASA plans to use neutron stars to navigate through the Solar System.
He worked on America’s first space station, Skylab, and now he’s leading a team to create a station for the future.
Heavy plaster or fiberglass casts can’t be temporarily removed, can’t get wet, and don’t allow skin underneath to breathe. But a team of Colorado-based entrepreneurs are modeling a new system for broken limbs.
Scientists at NASA Langley have been working for decades to understand the critical balance of Earth’s energy budget.
The next time you snap a picture with your cell phone, you can thank NASA for the technology in your hand.
In remote regions, drone delivery systems are already having an impact. But getting the drones back so they can be used again is the new problem.
With a surface temperature of 870 degrees Fahrenheit, a heavy carbon dioxide atmosphere, active volcanoes, and deadly clouds of sulfuric acid, Venus is a tough world to explore.
Safe to swallow devices for medical procedures are not a new idea, but MIT has a new way to power them.
NASA Langley is marking 100 years of innovations --- innovations that made us trailblazers in aeronautics, pioneers in human space flight, and leaders in atmospheric science.
Using ground-based systems, a spacecraft in orbit can communicate with Earth for about fifteen minutes as the spacecraft passes over the ground station. But a space-based network increases the amount of information sent to Earth and provides continuous communications from orbiting missions.
Field testing in Earth’s extreme environments can prepare us for exploration of alien worlds.
What if we could design a glider that actually interacted with charged particles to create lift and drag?
NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation has developed an app to help astronauts more effectively ensure they are getting adequate calorie consumption while in space.
As a NASA computer, Katherine Johnson calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Now NASA is honoring this remarkable woman.
A research team at North Carolina State University has found a way to make a better-tasting, better for you milk chocolate.
On Gemini 12, after hours of underwater training to prepare him, Buzz Aldrin finally solved the riddle of spacewalking.
With the rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria, an MIT team decided to shed some light on the problem and designed a new type of scope for doctors to use.
A team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is testing WindBot, a high-mobility explorer designed to travel to gas giants.
When astronauts like Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin came to NASA Langley to train, they could often be found at the Lunar Landing Research Facility, an iconic structure known as the gantry.
NASA is working on the next generation of high-speed modems using the emerging technology of integrated photonics, which uses light rather than electrons to perform optical functions.
Clouds influence environmental factors like rain, sunlight, and surface temperature – but scientists are now using cloud patterns to predict where specific species actually live.
Using a Direct Fusion Drive to deliver both an obriter and a lander to Pluto has some distinct advantages, including a direct trip in half the time.
In Canada, scientists have developed a cranberry extract that may actually succeed where traditional antibiotics have failed, by stopping bacterial infections from spreading in the first place.
When America’s first astronauts arrived at NASA Langley Research Center in the spring of 1959, they knew they were about to make history.
The most accurate atomic clock ever flown in space, could forever change the way we conduct deep-space navigation and give new meaning to making time fly.
Innovative and diverse research continues to happen on the first U.S. orbiting laboratory and everything researchers are developing on the International Space Station is building a better tomorrow for humanity.
Boasting an auditorium, restaurant, and decorative water pools, a new facility in West Palm Beach will make use of submarine technology to make a floating plaza for the public.
The NASA/Air Force Research Laboratory on Ascension Island now houses a telescope with a very special mission – to track fast moving orbital space debris and predict the risk it poses to spacecraft, Earth, and the International Space Station.
The year was 1958. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And Americans had their eyes on space.
During Curiosity’s four years on Mars, the rover’s Chemistry and Camera instrument, called ChemCam, has inspected more than 1,400 targets with more than 350 thousand total laser shots.
A Cygnus supply ship, filled with rubbish, was maneuvered a safe distance from the International Space Station where it had been docked for almost a month. Then it was ignited and NASA cameras watched it burn.
NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft are exploring the outermost edge of our solar system. And the Hubble Space Telescope is measuring the trek ahead.
Even when you buy plant-based biodegradable plastics, a small amount of a petroleum-based chemical has been added to make the product more flexible. But thanks to some replacement research, green plastics may soon be truly green!
The work of a handful of aircraft researchers had been reassigned. Their new task – to concentrate on human space flight.
Computer programs have grown so complex, some containing millions of lines of code, that defending them is difficult.
The recent night launch of an Antares rocket to the International Space Station marked the official return of medium-lift launches from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
NASA takes us on an in-depth tour --- all in Ultra High Definition and filmed with a fish-eye lens that captures every detail.
With the roll out of radio frequency identification, or RFID scanning technology to replace the manual scanning of barcodes, one airline has become the first to offer end-to-end visibility for baggage processing.
Perched on the roof of a tall building in Hampton, Virginia, the newly installed Direct Broadcast System joins a network of only 10 antennas like it in the country to provide the most up-to-date atmospheric data possible.
NASA needs to send plants on deep space missions as food for astronauts. But the scientists just don’t have time to check out thousands of plant varieties themselves. So NASA has put their research into the hands of students.
After converting deep space images from Hubble, researchers believe the previous estimate of 200 billion galaxies in our universe is at least 10 times too low.
A joint team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Stanford University, and MIT believe that Hedgehogs are the answer for autonomous exploration in low-gravity environments.
It’s been nearly 70 years since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in a jet plane. Now NASA is once again looking at designs for supersonic planes --- ones without a sonic boom.
Most of us enjoy that moment of bliss when a tasty bit of chocolate transforms from solid to a sensual liquid that teases our tastebuds. Don’t ruin the moment, but in the glowing aftermath, you might stop to consider the technology involved in creating this confectionary delight.
Horseshoe bats possess a unique echo system. And now a team at Virginia Tech is using the bat’s echolocation system to improve modern sonar.
The Space Act helps many American companies bring new products to market with technology transferred from NASA.
Many NASA cameras record images in black and white. So what does it take to produce those pictures in living color?
After the Bell X-1 had broken the sound barrier, the aerospace industry began eagerly looking for aircraft that could operate at supersonic speeds. But even the best designs were doomed to failure – until one creative individual changed the shape of flight.
One of the studies funded under NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts, or NIAC program, is a project that hopes to use Stellar Echo Imaging to give astronomers detailed information about Exoplanets.
Sometimes called, “White Mars,” Antarctica is the perfect place to study how people react when you just can’t go home.
Like any home, the International Space Station gets dusty. But unlike the dust in your home, these particles don’t settle – they float.
As planes began flying faster, engineers discovered that uneven airflow over the aircraft caused a shockwave to form. But how do you study a plane moving at transonic speeds? Take it to NASA Langley.
The NASA Langley Formal Methods Team maintains a unique open source collection of mathematical proofs that support the development of safety-critical systems. And some of that code actually shows up in the movies.
Two professors at the University of California, Davis, help students solve the engineering challenge of brewing coffee to keep incoming students motivated.
From hunting, to car accidents, to crop damage, deer have a huge economic impact in the United States. And now NASA is using satellite data to track the deer.
CRICKET could be used to locate resources needed to provide a safe haven for humans, putting other water worlds in our reach.
X-1 made history as the first plane to fly faster than the speed of sound. Now Maxwell, NASA’s first new x-plane in a decade, will once again transform our skies.
How accurate did NASA’s New Horizons team have to be to get the spacecraft in position to capture Pluto in such stunning detail?
To accurately predict rainfall amounts, scientists need to understand the ratio of large drops to small or medium drops in a storm.
Working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, scientists use the same computer software used to study a star or planet to study statistics from anonymous cancer patients.
One award from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program plans to demonstrate a cost-effective idea for sample return that taps into existing technologies.
In the Air Traffic Operations Laboratory, a team at NASA Langley uses lab space and software to test today’s air systems.
Although much like a sail on a sailboat, this design is not your typical solar sail. HERTS is a propulsion system ideal for deep space missions to the outer planets and beyond.
NASA Langley’s Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate is doing what they do best – applying their expertise in flight and robotic designs to find an innovative crash/landing system for UAVs.
Everyone has a slightly different circadian rhythm, the body’s biological clock that tells us when to sleep and when to wake. Unfortunately, light at night throws our circadian rhythm out of whack.
The Vascular Tissue Challenge, one of NASA’s Centennial Challenge competitions, is looking at ways to effectively mitigate the toll space travel takes on the human body.
In March 1941, engineers at what is now NASA Langley Research Center began operating a unique wind tunnel that would test more than 600 projects to date.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are currently testing a milk-based alternative to plastic that is both biodegradable and edible.
Using forestry databases and U.S. Forest Service drones, a team has developed a computer simulation capable of growing realistic virtual forests.
Sherlock does what no previous program was able to do – merge all of the air traffic information, producing end-to-end flight information for the entire U.S. airspace.
The prolific use of cell phones has rendered the United Kingdom’s recognizable red boxes almost useless. But one company is breathing new life into the iconic fixtures, repurposing the structures into mobile repair shops.
Drivers are familiar with grooved highway surfaces, but you might not realize that those grooves began at NASA Langley Research Center.
A new bandage, developed by a team at Northwestern University, helps heal wounds faster and without pain when it is removed.
Viking was an ambitious mission that resulted in discoveries about Mars that no one had expected.
Here’s a simple solution that will keep you and your family safe, even if you were left in the dark.
In NASA’s new Space Robotics Challenge, each team’s virtual robot, patterned after Robonaut 5, will be challenged with resolving the aftermath of a dust storm that has damaged a Martian habitat.
A research team from the University of Maryland made a breakthrough discovery – transparent wood. They created the material by bleaching wood.
If we are truly to become space explorers, we have to learn, just as early pioneers did, to live off the land. For NASA that means developing technologies for in situ resource utilization.
First responders, like police, firefighters, or paramedics can be outfitted with wearable sensors to identify GPS location, temperature, presence of gases, and heat patterns in other rooms. But the massive amount of information available from these miniaturized sensors is overwhelming. That’s where AUDREY comes into the picture.
Wind speed and direction observations over the ocean are crucial inputs for weather forecasting, developing global weather models, and analyzing weather patterns. And wind scatterometers mounted on satellites are often used to collect that information.
You are what you eat --- and that’s especially true for astronauts on the International Space Station where nutrition plays a key role in mitigating the negative effects of space on the human body. But now astronauts have a tool that can help them track their dietary habits in real time.
It’s very difficult to have mobility in the absence of gravity. So a team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is ringing in a new era of spacecraft technology to meet the challenge.
A team of university scientists aren’t just looking for pictures in the clouds. They have discovered that changes in cloud cover can actually point to the biomes many unique plants and animals call home.
The key symptom for a middle-ear infection is a build-up of fluid behind the eardrum. Unfortunately, an otoscope, the device a doctor uses to peek inside your ear, can’t see past the eardrum, making an accurate diagnosis a shot in the dark.
What if we could put a spacecraft in orbit around Pluto, a lander on Pluto, and we could get it to Pluto in only 4 years? NIAC is putting that idea to the test.
Mastering an extravehicular activity, or spacewalk would be crucial in proving that NASA was ready to actually put a man on the moon. But how could astronauts learn to walk in space while practicing on Earth?
For those of us who love milk chocolate, but prefer the healthier choice of dark chocolate, help is on the way.
The technology that has been used to float a boat, or more precisely, a submarine, is now making a splash in Florida.
Hampton University has been preparing for the antenna’s arrival for the past five years, and now, they’re ready to join a small, but elite nationwide network that provides the most up-to-date atmospheric data imaginable.
You can book tickets, check-in to flights, keep track of travel plans, and review air miles, but now this app will even let you track your luggage.
The health properties of cranberries are undisputed. And now doctors believe the bright red berries could be used to fight one of the biggest public health threats today.
Only 225 people have ever set foot in or on the International Space Station. So few of us have ever seen what it really looks like inside. Until now.
An audience of 22,000 watched as seven powerful, autonomous systems squared off in what was described as the world’s first all-machine hacking tournament.
According to a deep sky census, the universe may be a lot more crowded than we believed.
NASA needs to send plants on deep space missions as food for astronauts. But the scientists just don’t have time to check out thousands of plant varieties themselves. So NASA has put their research into the hands of students.
Much like GPS uses one-way signals to enable terrestrial navigation, NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock will provide the same capability in deep-space navigation.
Unlike existing tinting systems, a team at MIT is investigating a thin film that turns a transparent window to almost completely black in an instant.
By overlapping images in 3-dimensional detail and adding enhanced colors, the Dawn team has created a dramatic video tour of mysterious world we know as Ceres.
Now, gamers can help celebrate Curiosity’s fourth anniversary on Mars via a new social media game, Mars Rover.
Innovative and diverse research continues to happen on the first U.S. orbiting laboratory and everything researchers are developing on the International Space Station, including synthetic muscle, is building a better tomorrow for humanity.
NASA typically uses satellites to monitor the health of large bodies of water, like Lake Erie. But now, a scientist at NASA’s Glenn Research Center has engaged private pilots in the quest.
Using software developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Curiosity is frequently choosing its own targets as the roving science laboratory investigates the geology of Mars.
NASA has announced a bold 10-year plan to redesign aircraft as we know them - using technology that will make planes more Earth friendly, reduce delays, and maintain safety for the flying public.
From Hawaii to Australia, NASA scientists will map entire coral reefs using airborne instruments five miles overhead, without ever having to go into the water.
The NASA/Air Force Research Laboratory on Ascension Island now houses a telescope with a very special mission – to track fast moving orbital space debris and predict the risk it poses to spacecraft, Earth, and the International Space Station.
NASA’s Josh Fody explains how they are using spaceflight technology for a Forest Service problem here on Earth.
Exploration is in our blood, but why has NASA set their sights on a human mission to Mars? The payoff for human exploration is the science.
A Falcon aircraft outfitted at NASA Langley is ready for a unique mission to the Arctic.
Researchers are evaluating the personal journals – or diaries – of station crew members, looking for clues to help NASA understand human issues during long missions.
With Safe2Ditch, a drone decision-making system designed at NASA Langley Research Center, everyday users could reap the benefits of drone technology.
A radio signal was used to activate a hot wire inside an experimental unit on board the Cygnus supply ship and NASA scientist will use the experiment to learn more about the nature of fire in space.
Researchers have created a counterfeit prevention system that is ideal for use in credit cards or identity cards where authenticity is crucial.
NASA uses data from the oldest operating icing tunnel in the world to develop effective de-icing and anti-icing techniques used to protect both military and commercial aircraft today.
Researchers from the University of Iowa and the United States Geological Survey have developed a rapid response system that uses satellite and GPS data to identify the location of the earthquake and estimates of the impact, in as little as 24 hours.
Researchers in the UK have discovered an interesting phenomenon: simply looking at a picture of someone experiencing extreme cold drops the body temperature of the viewer!
Researchers from the University of Oregon have discovered that each of us leaves behind a unique cloud made up of airborne microbes.
A team from Johns Hopkins University is working to develop small cubesats that can actually map out the interior of an asteroid.
The Vascular Tissue Challenge, one of NASA’s Centennial Challenge competitions, is looking at ways to effectively mitigate the toll space travel takes on the human body.
Scientists and engineers are joining forces at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to monitor the weather– and they’re doing it with satellite images.
Managing the volume on the television can sometimes make family viewing a hassle. But a Ph.D. student at the University of Southampton may have a solution that targets the audio to a single spot in the room.
In the movie, The Martian, the code you see on Astronaut Mark’s computer screen is code that can actually be found in the NASA Prototype Verification System, or PVS library.
On any given day, East Coast shipping lanes are filled with ships, sailboats, and barges. But this part of the sea is also home to seven whale species, so scientists have designed a buoy to listen in to the sounds beneath the sea.
From dishwashing liquid to mayonnaise, we have all experienced those plastic bottles that are virtually impossible to empty. But Ohio State researchers have designed a microscopic bottle lining that lets product slide right off.
A mosaic of six pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope captures in stunning detail the energy debris from a supernova.
In the 1960’s as NASA was preparing to go to the moon, thin, reflective metallic materials were developed to protect spacecraft from the dangers of radiation. Now thanks to a Portland based company, our cell phones can benefit from the NASA technology.
Looking at the chemical content of the print rather than simply relying on the fingerprint image could rule out many suspects before you started looking in the database for a match.
The team struggled for more than 2 decades to bring a Pluto mission to life. But the effort was worth the time because New Horizons turned out better than anyone could have dreamed.
The United States National Research Council recommended sample return missions as a priority for the next decade. And one concept in development is looking at icy moons as their target.
How much fuel could be saved if all flights into San Francisco used lower power for descent? What factors reduce flight delays? Sherlock has the answer.
What started out as a class designed to get undergrads excited about engineering is on the way to becoming a one-of-a-kind comprehensive center on the study of ... coffee.
NASA is increasingly using artificial intelligence to help code and read the petabytes of data collected each day. Now those same big data techniques are revolutionizing biomedical research.
Playing solitaire on your phone when you can’t sleep? The blue light coming from your screen might just be keeping you awake!
The UK’s familiar red phone boxes have a new purpose that will make them a vital part of the present, while paying tribute to an icon of the past.
The search for environmentally friendly packaging that won’t clog our landfills has taken researchers back to the farm.
For the first time, scientists have 3-D snapshots that will give them an accurate picture of precipitation.
Wounds for a person with diabetes can become life-threatening. But a unique new bandage has a certain attraction to healing.
Americans are hit with record rainfall, tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter storms. And one of the accompanying problems can often be power outages. So in a world full of frozen food, how do you know what food is safe to eat when the power goes off?
The unusual features of the horseshoe bat make it a master of the dark! And now a team at Virginia Tech is using the bat’s echolocation system to improve modern sonar.
As NASA’s Centennial Challenges brings a 5-year sample return robot challenge to a close this year, they open a brand new $1 million prize competition designed to push the boundaries of robotic dexterity.
A NASA technology allows the re-use of a greenhouse gas which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, giving us all a reason to raise our glasses.
A team funded through NIAC is exploring how currently available modular systems from cubesat and commercial industries could be used to create designs with swappable components to explore new worlds.
Forty years later, NASA continues to take pride in the impressive mission that made the first successful soft landing on Mars, and set the stage for space exploration today.
A team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is testing WindBot, a high-mobility explorer designed to travel to gas giants.
Inside a burning building, firefighters have only their training and their five senses to rely on. But a new type of artificial intelligence could prove to be the firefighter’s guardian angel.
In the quest for solar energy, researchers seek new ways to harness the sun’s energy, something plants have been doing on Earth for thousands of years.
A see-through wall made of wood? That’s only the beginning of the story. Researchers from the University of Maryland have developed transparent wood that channels light.
Mars is about 40 million miles from Earth --- and on a trip that far, it is impossible to take everything you might need with you. But the ability to live off the Martian land would make human exploration possible.
For the past 20 years, researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been preparing a miniaturized, low-mass atomic clock that will soon be ready for its maiden space flight.
Window tinting is effective, to a point, but new technology could take us from transparent to black, with the flick of a switch.
As Curiosity marks its fourth anniversary, in Earth years, since landing on Mars, NASA celebrates with the release of a new game so we can all join the adventure.
For some NASA Earth observers, the answers truly are blowing in the wind, and now there’s an effective way to find them.
Private pilots are the key to an early warning system that could alert coastal communities to algae blooms in their neighborhood.
Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Viking 1 on August 20th, 1975, and Viking 2 on September 9th, the two identical spacecraft made up of a lander and orbiter, spent nearly a year cruising to Mars.
Pioneers pushing the boundaries of space-based research were recently honored at this year’s International Space Station Research and Development Conference. And their innovations are truly out-of-this world!
After last year’s record warm winter in the Arctic, NASA’s Operation IceBridge is taking a look at this summer’s sea ice.
X-1, the first official x-plane, made history when it flew faster than the speed of sound. Now Maxwell, NASA’s first new x-plane in a decade, will once again transform our skies.
Ascension Island, a tropical paradise halfway between Brazil and Africa, is the new home for a brand new NASA telescope that can effectively track space debris. And in this case, location is everything!
Current restrictions on unmanned aerial systems limit their uses, but a team at NASA has a plan for a landing/crash system that could keep both people and property safe.
The Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System, or HERTS, is a propulsion system ideal for deep space missions to the outer planets and beyond. The idea could take us to the edge of our solar system in record time.
At first glance, visitors to an art gallery in Amsterdam may think they are looking at a portrait painted by Rembrandt between 1632 and 1642. But the work on display is actually a print created by a computer.
Filtering air inside a spacecraft is an absolute necessity. So NASA is underway with a NIAC study to modify submarine technology for space.
Protecting humans from deadly viruses like Ebola has immunologists working overtime. And a group of scientists in Australia are turning to bats for answers.
A NASA technology has been transferred to the private sector where gas companies like Pacific Gas and Electric in California are using a hand-held version to locate methane leaks in gas lines.
Scientists have long understood the relationship between chlorophyll production and a healthy plant. But measuring how plants absorb the light they need to make food has required contact with the leaf. Until now.
Imagine a room where robots are running around while researchers are controlling the machines from across the country and beyond. At Georgia Tech, you don’t have to imagine.
Amazed by the number of social media posts about auroras, NASA space weather scientist Liz MacDonald founded Aurorasaurus, a citizen science web site that uses public posts to help scientists track geomagnetic storms.
Bees seem to navigate through dense forests without a care. And now scientists in Sweden may have discovered their secret.
For centuries opiates have brought relief to people in severe pain. But the relief came with consequences. Now researchers are engineering an alternative to morphine.
Exploring comets, asteroids, and small moons can be a difficult task. So what kind of design could be used for autonomous exploration?
The Crystal Cabin Awards honor industry developments that improve cabin comfort when we fly. And Boeing’s Fresh Lavatory on-board toilet took the prize this year.
A NASA Langley team is working with the Forest Service to construct a patented light-weight fire-resistant shelter made of the same woven materials designed to protect a spacecraft from the blistering heat of re-entry.
A forest may take hundreds of years to grow to maturity, so a team at Washington State University has created a cyberforest program to study long term effects on trees.
For the millions of us who wear glasses, switching from our indoor glasses to sunglasses can be a hassle. And transitional lenses that change color when exposed to sunlight just don’t change fast enough to be effective. But now putting on sunglasses could be as simple as flipping a switch.
Whether planning an outdoor event or getting ready for the day, we look to weather forecasts to help us prepare. But more than just day-to-day conditions, weather events can be life or death matters, so researchers at NASA are working hard to develop forecasts that could save lives.
In an effort to learn about combustion in space, NASA scientists set a fire in a Cygnus capsule, and watched it burn.
The shipping lane between the Port of New York and New Jersey is one of the busiest on the east coast, but it’s also home to an incredible population of marine animals – and now scientists have a way to listen in to the sounds beneath the sea.
Since the human body reacts differently in weightlessness, it is important to understand human reactions, senses, and body behavior before astronauts will truly be able to interface with a robotic companion.
When our astronaut hero boots up his computer in the movie, The Martian, just what is that code we see on his screen?
How can the human body be kept in working order during long periods in space? NASA has opened a Centennial Challenge to provide some answers.
If you’ve ever shaken the bottle of ketchup or had to squeeze the shampoo to get at that elusive liquid inside, take heart - a slippery solution is in the works.
NASA often uses the vantage point of space to learn more about Earth. And a new mission will put eyes on the ocean.
Astronauts on the International Space Station are ready to take gardening to the next level – and say it with flowers.
People have always looked to the night sky for navigation, to predict the seasons, or for religious celebrations. But is our love of light affecting our view of the stars?
Lighter than their rigid-structure counterparts, and therefore less expensive to launch; quieter than the aluminum walls of other modules; the fabric of inflatable modules may even be more resistant to micrometeors. So NASA is putting the first inflatable habitat to the test.
Pictures play an important role in Facebook posts. But unless the person who uploads the picture takes time to manually add a caption, visually impaired users miss out on these updates from friends. Until now.
The panorama revealed sand dunes and large rocks. The late afternoon sun was high in the sky on the left side of the photo. What made this picture unique? It was the first high resolution image taken from the surface of Mars!
She counted everything; and NASA counted on her. So NASA Langley is honoring Katherine Johnson in a very special way.
Dr. Mark Rodefeld, a pediatric surgeon at Indiana University, has spent decades fixing broken hearts. And his research led him to a team of engineers at NASA.
Scientists are shining a light on moon craters, and this NIAC-funded project could transform the darkness.
A London-based firm has an idea that could make the commute to work a healthier journey.
Cell phones, computers, tablets, gaming devices . . . new models come out and we have to upgrade. But what do we do with the old ones?
Just like in the movies – blobs of molten metal reassembling themselves – but this time, it’s happening in North Carolina.
What if we could harness the energy in Jupiter’s red spot as a source of energy? A group of NASA researchers hope to do just that.
Researchers are shining a new light on organic fruits – making them safe without chemicals.
Up, up in the stratosphere…. An idea that has been around for over a hundred years may open a new era of space travel.
A leopard may not be able to change its spots, but researchers at MIT have found a way to turn those patterns into a medical technology that will help millions.
How do we develop the technology that will make us a truly star-faring people? It might just begin on the moon.
Viking was an ambitious mission --- one designed to not only orbit Mars, but to land and operate on the planet’s surface – something that no one had successfully done before.
NASA has relied on radio frequency based communications since its inception. But as exploration takes us farther from Earth, how do we meet today’s demand for higher data rates?
After returning home from the moon, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin said, “Mars is there – waiting to be explored.” But what’s the point of sending humans to another world?
What if a spacecraft could simply use the resources found on moons to make exploration possible . . . ?
Find out how space blankets are being used to protect electronics from extreme temperatures.
Cleaner, quieter, and even faster. NASA is entering a new era in aviation as x-planes take to the air.
Some thunderstorms can be seen approaching, while others hit without warning. Now NASA is taking to the air above Kansas to see why nighttime storms are brewing.
Do you have a special list of places you really want to visit? Find out about one of the places on NASA’s bucket list.
A heart attack is a serious thing – even when it’s not fatal, the resulting damage to heart tissue affects the heart’s ability to pump blood. But a new patch may actually restore both tissue and function.
In 1801, Piazzi pointed his telescope to the sky and first observed the object we call Ceres. More than 200 years later, NASA made history as Dawn became the first mission to visit Ceres. And now, a video animation brings the dwarf planet to us, in exquisite detail.
In the 1980’s compact fluorescent light bulbs hit the market, but the now familiar spiral shaped bulbs may soon become a fad of the past.
Nature is very good at making efficient creatures that swim through the water. Can we learn from nature? Can we create a rover that can turn slow motion into locomotion? A team at Cornell seems to think so.
For those of us who remember 2001 – A Space Odyssey, science is about to imitate art once again as engineers give exercise a whole new spin.
As Hubble zooms in on an exploded star, scientists get a second chance to examine the remains of a supernova.
You have GPS in your DNA and it can pin-point your old neighborhood… From a thousand years ago!
From the sounds in video games to the scores for films, much of the music we hear today has actually been composed by a computer.
The annual Toy Fair in London kicked off the toy season and although many had a technology element, imagination took the prize.
Take me out to the ball game --- or in this case, bring the game to me thanks to the supersized digital technology that is being used on Mars.
Taking a drink in space, where microgravity affects the way fluids behave, is a complicated task. But thanks to research conducted on the International Space Station, a new cup may replace sealed drink bags and straws.
A team from Marshall Space Flight Center has proposed an idea that would take us to the edge of our solar system - in record time!
NASA’s effort to learn about the stars has ended up with scientists learning more about some animals right here on Earth.
From art to robots. NASA is very interested in seeing just how flexible the Super Ball Bot can be.
Nearly 3 million Americans have glaucoma. Currently there’s no cure for this degenerative disease, but a new tool could help doctors diagnose the condition before it becomes more difficult to treat.
From understanding how the human body reacts to long-term spaceflight to testing critical systems for Mars missions, the International Space Station is our stepping stone to deep-space exploration.
Finding a fingerprint match means sifting through huge databases – and that takes time. But what if you could rule out many of the suspects before you started looking for a match?
Filtering air inside a spacecraft is an absolute necessity. So NASA is underway with a NIAC study to modify submarine technology for inflatable vehicles in space.
Comets, asteroids, and hedgehogs? These spiky little robots are a perfect fit for low-gravity exploration. Hear from the experts why they think these will work.
Lighter than their rigid-structure counterparts, and therefore less expensive to launch; quieter than the aluminum walls of other modules; the fabric of inflatable modules may even be more resistant to micrometeors. So NASA is putting the first inflatable habitat to the test.
When methane plumes were discovered on Mars in 2003, researchers found a way to detect methane on the surface – and now that same technology is being used right here on Earth.
In spite of being hosts for a multitude of different viruses, bats don’t display any signs of the resulting diseases. What is it that keeps these creatures of the night so healthy?
Thanks to a new computer simulation, a process that normally takes decades can happen in just a few weeks.
Once again researchers turn to the natural world, and they’ve discovered something that has them buzzing.
Pictures play an important role in Facebook posts. But unless the person who uploads the picture takes time to manually add a caption, visually impaired users miss out on these updates from friends. Until now.
She counted everything; and NASA counted on her. And now NASA Langley is dedicating a new computer research facility after this remarkable woman, Katherine G. Johnson.
Imagine a room where robots are running around while researchers are controlling the machines from across the country and beyond. At Georgia Tech, you don’t have to imagine.
Dr. Mark Rodefeld, a pediatric surgeon at Indiana University, has spent decades fixing broken hearts. And his research led him to a team of engineers at NASA.
For centuries opiates have brought relief to people in severe pain. But the relief came with consequences. Now researchers are engineering an alternative to morphine.
Few sights are as impressive as the ghostly colors of the auroras. And now NASA is looking at citizen scientists to accurately track auroras in real time.
Ninety years ago, a small rocket lifted off – and forever changed the way we explore. Learn about Robert Goddard’s impact on rocket engineering.
Astronauts on the International Space Station are ready to take gardening to the next level – and say it with flowers.
Nine years, three billion miles, and still going strong. New Horizons is using pictures to map its way to Pluto and beyond.
People have always looked to the night sky for navigation, to predict the seasons, or for religious celebrations. But is our love of light affecting our view of the stars?
Sleep can be an elusive thing. But thanks to a NASA tech transfer, insomniacs can rest a little easier.
From off-road to anode --- a new use for old tires in better performing lithium-ion batteries.
Who would have imagined that folding fast food wrappers into cranes would one day lead to designing space-bound devices?
Medical researchers are experimenting with biodegradable bone replacements – and the main ingredient: volcanic ash!
Many NASA cameras record images in black and white. So what does it take to produce those pictures in living color?
To most of us disruptive is a bad word, but to NASA, it’s a way to move technology forward!
Looking for a way to pass the time? With some basic programming skills, you could make your own Shadowclock.
In 2010, all eyes were on 33 miners trapped for more than 2 months in a Chilean copper mine. As the world watched, a team from NASA took what they had learned about protecting humans in hostile environments, and put it to use.
As part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, The Game Changing Development Program investigates ideas that could revolutionize future space endeavors. And one of those technologies being developed now is an inflatable airlock.
In oceans around the world, coral reefs are damaged - can we save them with 3-d-printed coral?
Notice the upturned wings on your plane? They don’t just look cool. These wings have a job to do.
Researchers may have found a way to make humidity work for us with a generator that converts evaporation to energy.
Cleaner, quieter, and even faster. NASA is entering a new era in aviation as x-planes take to the air.
After returning home from the moon, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin said, “Mars is there – waiting to be explored.” But what’s the point of sending humans to another world?
Some thunderstorms can be seen approaching, while others hit without warning. Now NASA is taking to the air above Kansas to see why nighttime storms are brewing.
It turns out we may all have a lot in common with a famous Peanuts character. We all have a personally identifying germ cloud that follows us everywhere.
While we anxiously waited for years as New Horizons made its way to Pluto, NASA researchers weren’t just sitting on their hands. A team from Marshall Space Flight Center has proposed an idea that would take us to the edge of our solar system - in record time!
The phrase, “Music to my ears” takes on a whole new meaning as NASA scientists are being trained to listen to their data.
Stonehenge is one of the most recognized landscapes in the world, but the real mystery may just be what lies beneath.
NASA is bringing a spaceflight technology back to Earth that could take the heat for firefighters.
Winds in Saturn’s atmosphere reach speeds of more than one thousand miles per hour. What if we could use that wind as a source of energy?
A heart attack is a serious thing – even when it’s not fatal, the resulting damage to heart tissue affects the heart’s ability to pump blood. But a new patch may actually restore both tissue and function.
While pumping up the volume on the television set is a common practice for those of us over 70, the result is not always comfortable for others in the room. But what if you could target the audio to a single spot in the room?
It’s the largest Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled and the subject of the picture – Andromeda – a mere 2.5 million light years away!
A subtle tingle to the sole may be just what the doctor ordered to keep seniors on their feet.
NASA satellites show an unexpected talent for predicting floods, up to five months in advance, all by using gravity.
Prognostications from machines are helping astronomers make predictions about the stars.
Find out how space blankets are being used to protect electronics from extreme temperatures.
What if a spacecraft could simply use the resources found on moons to make exploration possible . . . ? A new hopper for Triton could use the available resources to operate.
NASA has relied on radio frequency based communications since its inception. But as exploration takes us farther from Earth, how do we meet today’s demand for higher data rates?
The annual Toy Fair in London kicked off the toy season and although many had a technology element, imagination took the prize.
In the 1980’s compact fluorescent light bulbs hit the market, but the now familiar spiral shaped bulbs may soon become a fad of the past.
In honor of one of our favorite American authors, we bring you this special Innovation Now because --- there really is no place like space!
Nature is very good at making efficient creatures that swim through the water. Can we learn from nature? Can we create a rover that can turn slow motion into locomotion? A team at Cornell seems to think so.
Microbrewers can now use NASA technology to put bubbles in their beer, making the carbonation process more environmentally friendly.
In 1801, Piazzi pointed his telescope to the sky and first observed the object we call Ceres. More than 200 years later, NASA made history as Dawn became the first mission to visit Ceres. And now, a video animation brings the dwarf planet to us, in exquisite detail.
The FAA is concluding tests on a material that could eliminate the need for snow removal.
Saving a few minutes on an airline flight may not seem like much, but NASA knows how to make minutes count!
A short flight made history as NASA researchers successfully delivered medical supplies – all while controlling their plane from the ground.
Cell phones, computers, tablets, gaming devices . . . new models come out and we have to upgrade. But what do we do with the old ones?
A leopard may not be able to change its spots, but researchers at MIT have found a way to turn those patterns into a medical technology that will help millions.
As Hubble zooms in on an exploded star, scientists get a second chance to examine the remains of a supernova.
A London-based firm has an idea that could make the commute to work a healthier journey.
Researchers are shining a new light on organic fruits – making them safe without chemicals.
Up, up in the stratosphere…. An idea that has been around for over a hundred years may open a new era of space travel.
Just like in the movies – blobs of molten metal reassembling themselves – but this time, it’s happening in North Carolina.
Eighty percent of streams sampled by the USGS are contaminated with at least one organic chemical. But one young scientist is working to solve this problem.
In this age of broadband, we stream data around the globe with incredible speeds. But technology limitations with space communications have scientists waiting on the edge of their seats.
Although we have learned much about objects in space, we still have many questions about what is going on beneath these rocky surfaces. And a NASA funded project might just help us get under the hood of an asteroid!
Here’s a great chef’s challenge – being creative with your ingredients - 140 million miles from home.
You’ve got to hand it to the researchers at NASA for getting a grip on astronaut gloves.
As we become more security conscious, biometrics are becoming more mainstream in our daily lives. But just how secure are the fingerprint codes on your smartphone?
A team of aeronautics researchers are feeding ash to engines and standing back to see what happens.
We call them superbugs – those antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. So what’s all the buzz about now?
Water is one ration that is absolutely essential – but how do soldiers know how much water to carry with them on a mission? Now there’s an app for that.
Advanced techniques for fabricating lightweight fuel tanks will help spacecraft go farther than ever before.
Researchers have cracked the identify code, recognizing individuals by their brainwaves.
NASA technologies often make their way into the commercial world, but this NASA tech transfer may appear at your favorite grocery or department store!
For those of us who remember 2001 – A Space Odyssey, science is about to imitate art once again as engineers give exercise a whole new spin.
When searching for ways to reduce the noise associated with wind turbines and airplanes, researchers have turned to the experts in nature – the owl.
To both health conscious eaters and environmentalists alike, seaweed is an exciting crop. It thrives in waters that humans are pumping full of pollutants, and now – it tastes like bacon!
Did you know that the friction created between the ground and the rolling tires on a car consumes almost 10 percent of the car’s fuel? Find out how engineers plan to put that friction to work to save energy rather than burn it.
Can't find that TV remote again? No worries...just change the channel with your mind...
Many of us scan QR codes to access sites on the Internet. But new technology could send us directly to information – no Internet required!
From understanding how the human body reacts to long-term spaceflight to testing critical systems for Mars missions, the International Space Station is our stepping stone to deep-space exploration.
Finding a fingerprint match means sifting through huge databases – and that takes time. But what if you could rule out many of the suspects before you started looking for a match?
Nearly 3 million Americans have glaucoma. Currently there’s no cure for this degenerative disease, but a new tool could help doctors diagnose the condition before it becomes more difficult to treat.
People have always looked to the night sky for navigation, to predict the seasons, or for religious celebrations. But is our love of light affecting our view of the stars?
Astronauts on the International Space Station are ready to take gardening to the next level – and say it with flowers.
How do you test a giant telescope before sending it to space? The engineers at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center have the answer.
Scientists are testing a new counterfeit prevention too small to be seen with the naked eye, but worth its weight in gold.
Do you have a special list of places you really want to visit? Find out about one of the places on NASA’s bucket list.
CubeSats are headed for interplanetary exploration and the unique communications satellites are going to hitch a ride to Mars.
A 3D printer sent to the International Space Station makes on-demand manufacturing a reality.
From the sounds in video games to the scores for films, much of the music we hear today has actually been composed by a computer.
Taking a drink in space, where microgravity affects the way fluids behave, is a complicated task. But thanks to research conducted on the International Space Station, a new cup may replace sealed drink bags and straws.
You have GPS in your DNA and it can pin-point your old neighborhood… From a thousand years ago!
Commercial fishermen as well as oceanographers share and depend on NASA satellite data to get the real fish story.
A long-time staple of science fiction is faster-than-light travel, by “Warp Drive”. Will we ever have one, for real?
Nine years, three billion miles, and still going strong. New Horizons is using pictures to map its way to Pluto and beyond.
In 2010, all eyes were on 33 miners trapped for more than 2 months in a Chilean copper mine. As the world watched, a team from NASA took what they had learned about protecting humans in hostile environments, and put it to use.
Many NASA cameras record images in black and white. So what does it take to produce those pictures in living color?
Medical researchers are experimenting with biodegradable bone replacements – and the main ingredient: volcanic ash!
Looking for a way to pass the time? With some basic programming skills, you could make your own Shadowclock.
To most of us disruptive is a bad word, but to NASA, it’s a way to move technology forward!
NASA is using DNA sequencing technology to study bacteria . . . in space. And the International Space Station is the laboratory.
The most dangerous infection is one you don’t know you have. But a new device uses the infection’s own DNA to track it down.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station may see 16 sunrises per day, but, they haven’t been able to wake up and smell the coffee – until now.
One proposal for a “green” supermarket will have you answering the question: “Paper, Plastic....or Bucket?”
New 3-D printing process turns metals inside out and allows printing with multiple materials.
Scientists are now putting their eyes in the sky to good use when an earthquake happens.
When fighting Alzheimer’s, time becomes precious and a new blood test might give patients a year’s advance warning.
Marathons may be an everyday occurrence on Earth, but after more than 11 years, Opportunity has broken a distance record on Mars.
Making NASA’s hottest 100 technologies list, a compact meter could take the stress out of having a green thumb.
Forget the flat-packs and Allen wrenches: This furniture assembles itself, and changes to suit your needs.
It may look like gaming, but the astronauts using this joystick are really preparing for the future.
Bundled up against the bitter cold, researchers in this wind tunnel are making ice. Oh, well – the cold never bothered them anyway!
It’s the idea that gave Einstein a headache. But it works! Let’s get entangled, with the strange new world of Quantum Communication!
As part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, The Game Changing Development Program investigates ideas that could revolutionize future space endeavors. And one of those technologies being developed now is an inflatable airlock.
A heart attack is a serious thing – even when it’s not fatal, the resulting damage to heart tissue affects the heart’s ability to pump blood. But a new patch may actually restore both tissue and function.
It turns out we may all have a lot in common with a famous Peanuts character. We all have a personal germ cloud following us.
Saving a few minutes on an airline flight may not seem like much, but NASA knows how to make minutes count!
As Hubble zooms in on an exploded star, scientists get a second chance to examine the remains of a supernova.
A short flight made history as NASA researchers successfully delivered medical supplies – all while controlling their plane from the ground.
Comets, asteroids, and hedgehogs? These spiky little robots are a perfect fit for low-gravity exploration.
While the scent of a perfectly grilled steak is enticing, you might be dismayed if a tasty steak were to suddenly vaporize once you started to eat it. But chocolate --- that’s a whole different matter.
People with backgrounds in engineering, science, and other technical disciplines form a unique team at NASA Langley Research Center.
From art to robots. NASA is very interested in seeing just how flexible the Super Ball Bot can be.
Cell phones, computers, tablets, gaming devices . . . new models come out and we have to upgrade. But what do we do with the old ones?
Filtering air inside a spacecraft is an absolute necessity. So NASA is underway with a NIAC study to modify submarine technology for space.
Prognostications from machines are helping astronomers make predictions about the stars.
Just like in the movies – blobs of molten metal reassembling themselves – but this time, it’s happening in North Carolina with a brand new metal alloy that is liquid at room temperature.
A London-based firm has an idea for moving walkways that could make the commute to work a healthier journey.
In this age of broadband, we stream data around the globe with incredible speeds. But technology limitations with space communications have scientists waiting on the edge of their seats.
A leopard may not be able to change its spots, but researchers at MIT have found a way to turn those patterns into a medical technology that will help millions.
NASA is bringing a spaceflight technology back to Earth that could take the heat for firefighters.
Up, up in the stratosphere…. space elevators - an idea that has been around for over a hundred years may open a new era of space travel.
While we anxiously waited for years as New Horizons made its way to Pluto, NASA researchers weren’t just sitting on their hands. A team from Marshall Space Flight Center has proposed an idea that would take us to the edge of our solar system - in record time!
Researchers are shining a new light on organic fruits – making them safe without chemicals.
Eighty percent of streams sampled by the USGS are contaminated with at least one organic chemical. But one young scientist is working to solve this problem.
Scientists are shining a light on moon craters and the computer controlled mirrors could redirect sunlight into the darkest corners.
You’ve got to hand it to the researchers at NASA for getting a grip on astronaut gloves. This Game Changing Innovation will protect the astronauts’ hands and be better for destinations like Mars.
A team of aeronautics researchers are feeding ash to airplane engines and standing back to see what happens.
It’s the largest Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled and the subject of the structure – Andromeda – a mere 2.5 million light years away!
Astronauts have always had moxie, but now, NASA is sending MOXIE to Mars – and it’s going to help astronauts actually live off the land.
Sleep can be an elusive thing. But thanks to a NASA tech transfer, insomniacs can rest a little easier.
The United Nations has declared 2015 the International Year of Light and NASA is joining the celebration with images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
There is no such thing as a blind spot when you’re wearing a high-tech helmet that sees all.
The most sensitive thermometer in the world uses bent light to tell you the truest temperature – to an accuracy of thirty billionths of one degree!
Opportunistic thieves create headaches for urban bike riders. But what if your rode an unstealable bike?
Food poisoning puts thousands of lives at risk each year, but tracking tainted food just got easier with a harmless food additive that acts like a bar code.
In oceans around the world, coral reefs are damaged. Can we save them with 3D printed coral?
Can a blood test be used to provide an objective diagnosis of depression? A team at Northwestern thinks so.
Think you’re a shutterbug? NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured over 100 million images of our sun.
When Seahawks fans rocked the stadium, scientists put all that energy to good use and tested a new seismograph that could save lives.
While pumping up the volume on the television set is a common practice for those of us over 70, the result is not always comfortable for others in the room. But what if you could target the audio to a single spot in the room?
Advanced techniques for fabricating lightweight fuel tanks will help spacecraft go farther than ever before.
A NASA discovery leads to products that will help build the next great space telescope. Polyimide materials could be used for optics at a fraction of the weight of glass.
NASA is exploring a new frontier in food. How about a 3D printed pizza for your long duration space voyage?
The surface of Venus is hot enough to melt lead. So the obvious way to drive a Venus rover is by sailing it across the land.
What looks good to the eye reveals flaws when the heat’s on. And that’s a good thing. NASA has developed non-destructive testing techniques that look at the inside without damaging the outside.
Traveling for more than 8 billion miles, NASA’s MESSENGER Mission became the proving ground for some unique engineering designs.
As we become more security conscious, biometrics are becoming more mainstream in our daily lives. But just how secure are the fingerprint codes on your smartphone?
To both health conscious eaters and environmentalists alike, seaweed is an exciting crop. It thrives in waters that humans are pumping full of pollutants, and now – it tastes like bacon!
Winds in Saturn’s atmosphere reach speeds of more than one thousand miles per hours. What if we could use that wind as a source of energy?
NASA technologies often make their way into the commercial world, but the NASA tech transfer may appear at your favorite grocery or department store!
When searching for ways to reduce the noise associated with wind turbines, and airplanes, researchers have turned to the experts in nature – the owl.
Hubble is a resounding success. It has helped us advance our scientific knowledge of the universe and pushed the boundaries of our vision. But where do we go from here?
For those of us who remember 2001 – A Space Odyssey, science is about to imitate art once again as engineers give exercise a whole new spin.
Did you know that the friction created between the ground and the rolling tires on a car consumes almost 10 percent of the car’s fuel? Find out how engineers plan to put that friction to work to save energy rather than burn it.
Although we have learned much about objects in space, we still have many questions about what is going on beneath these rocky surfaces. And a NASA funded project might just help us get under the hood of an asteroid.
86,400 seconds in a day. But on June 30, 2015, a leap second was added to our clocks in order to keep our timekeeping strategies consistent.
Can’t find that TV remote again. No worries – you will soon be able to change the channel with your mind.
Some thunderstorms can be seen approaching while others hit without warning. Now NASA is taking to the air above Kansas to see why nighttime storms are brewing.
As New Horizons heads towards the Kuiper Belt, scientists must make adjustments for the resources needed to help the spacecraft continue its journey. But what if a spacecraft could simply use the resources found on moons to make exploration possible.
Researchers have cracked the identity code, recognizing individuals by their brainwaves.
You know that thunder comes along with lightning. But does lightning, start, from thousand-year-old cosmic rays?
As part of a technology transfer program, NASA turned over a unique software tool to the FAA that will help air traffic controllers better manage air space.
It looks like something from a Transformers movie, but this Giant Research Robot is here to help NASA.
Solutions to some of our most difficult challenges are often found in nature. This time, researchers are studying cats to make safer landings for robots.
Identical twins will compare their physical changes, after one of them spends a year in orbit.
We go into space to learn about the universe, but we also need to learn more about ourselves and what better way than to study the psychology of long-duration exploration in a new field called cognitive astrobiology.
A NASA-built rocket engine sets a world record by running continuously for more than five and a half years and could be the prototype for engines to take us to deep space.
Here’s a great chef’s challenge – be creative with a limited number of ingredients, 140 million miles from home!
Wireless devices of the future may have an unusual backup power system; taking free energy from the air itself.
The Hubble Space Telescope continues to amaze us with spectacular images of our galaxy and galaxies beyond.
Scientists are testing a new counterfeit prevention too small to be seen with the naked eye, but worth its weight in gold.
Most rovers move around a planet surface on wheels, but a proposed rover designed for Europa might just change the way we think about exploration.
NASA is celebrating a landmark with Hubble – and companies like UTC are joining the celebration.
Do you have a special list of places you really want to visit? Find out about one of the places on NASA’s bucket list.
Bringing us stunning images of distant galaxies, Hubble has become our eyes on the universe.
The history of the universe is written in starlight and the Hubble Space Telescope has recorded much of that history.
From industry to space, hydrogen is a mainstay chemical, but until now, the difficulty detecting leaks often meant disaster.
With the growing demand for more renewable energy sources, a group of bio-engineers are turning a gut reaction into fuel.
We call them superbugs – those antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. So what’s all the buzz about now?
Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope make us question what we think we know about our own solar system.
Formula 1 race car drivers are always on the hot seat, but NASA may have a way to lower the temperature.
Dropping a stone into a pool creates ripples – but how do you measure those ripples that are coming from light-years away?
Stonehenge is one of the most recognized landscapes in the world, but the real mystery may just be what lies beneath.
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream --- or maybe a 2-D pixelated world.
Can’t remember the four things on your grocery list? You’re not alone, but a new treatment may just provide relief for the young and the old.
Taking a drink in space, where microgravity affects the way fluids behave, is a complicated task. But thanks to research conducted on the International Space Station, a new cup may replace sealed drink bags and straws.
NASA is working with USC to design lunar structures, but could that same technology be used to build your next home?
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station may see 16 sunrises per day, but, they haven’t been able to wake up and smell the coffee – until now.
From the sounds in video games to the scores for films, much of the music we hear today has actually been composed by a computer.
It’s the largest Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled and the subject of the picture – Andromeda – a mere 2.5 million light years away!
A subtle tingle to the sole may be just what the doctor ordered to keep seniors on their feet.
The answer to neutralizing a really smelly situation could be as simple as creating a white smell machine.
Scientists use the designs and processes seen in nature to help solve human problems. But how can a squid make better televisions?
Notice the upturned wings on your plane? They don’t just look cool. These wings have a job to do.
It looks like something out of a science fiction movie, but SpiderFab could radically change the way we build and deploy spacecraft.
Groundbreaking technology could help us track smoke-filled skies and issue critical health warnings – all from the International Space Station.
Although they may seem like “old technology” by today’s standards, Hubble and Spitzer have done it again – this time giving scientists a glimpse into the birth of new stars – the heavenly kind.
Patches to quit smoking; patches for pain; and now a patch that changes color when your heart health is at risk.
Scientists are now putting their eyes in the sky to good use when an earthquake happens.
NASA’s effort to learn about the stars has ended up with scientists learning more about animals right here on Earth and they’re using math created for the Hubble Space Telescope.
Hollywood takes to the air with special permission from the FAA and the result will be breathtaking special effects.
Marathons may be an everyday occurrence on Earth, but after more than 11 years, Opportunity has broken a distance record on Mars.
Bringing us stunning images of distant galaxies, Hubble has become our eyes on the universe. And Ball Aerospace helped make that vision clear.
Making NASA’s hottest 100 technologies list, a compact meter could take the stress out of having a green thumb.
It’s a giant planet, bigger than Jupiter, orbiting a star, light-years away. So how can we tell if it has water? The Hubble Space Telescope can help scientists find the answer.
Whether it’s high speed atmospheric flight or end-to-end space transportation systems, NASA has teams that are looking at innovative solutions that will take us where we want to go.
The history of the universe is written in starlight and the Hubble Space Telescope has recorded much of that history.
From industry to space, hydrogen is a mainstay chemical, but until now, the difficulty detecting leaks often meant disaster.
Are you a dancing machine? You could be – literally and help with traffic safety while you’re at it.
Don’t toss those empty chip bags; it’s chip wrappers to the rescue when it comes to clean water.
Think your job puts you right in the middle of the rat race? Embrace the race with your own human size hamster wheel.
New nano-coating is headed to the International Space Station for some extreme testing.
Who would have imagined that folding fast food wrappers into cranes would one day lead to designing space-bound vehicles?
With some high tech assistance, a test subject in India has sent messages to three other people in France, simply by thinking it.
The phrase, “music to my ears,” takes on a whole new meaning as NASA scientists are being trained to listen to their data.
Too much water; too little water. What if your plants could send you a text message when they need to be watered?
A 3D printer sent to the International Space Station makes on-demand manufacturing a reality.
Now you can have a different view of what NASA is doing in human space exploration – and all in 3D.
Prognostications from machines are helping astronomers make predictions about the stars.
Nine years, three billion miles, and still going strong. New Horizons is using pictures to map its way to Pluto and beyond.
While the scent of a perfectly grilled steak is enticing, you might be dismayed if a tasty steak were to suddenly vaporize once you started to eat it. But chocolate --- that’s a whole different matter.
Taking your favorite cashmere sweater to the dry cleaners may soon be a thing of the past. Coating cloths with a special nano-particle could allow you to use light instead of chemicals for dry cleaning.
The FDA is currently reviewing a new cancer treatment that began in space. Using micro balloons, encapsulated medication could be delivered directly to diseased tissue.
NASA continues to make science fiction, science fact. This time with robotic gardeners that could help astronauts grow and harvest crops.
Microscopic, bio-robots, made by 3-D printers, take their first baby steps in the lab, powered by muscle fibers.
NASA satellites show an unexpected talent for predicting floods, up to five months in advance.
It may look like gaming, but the astronauts using this joystick are really preparing for the future.
It’s the largest Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled and the subject of the picture – Andromeda – a mere 2.5 million light years away!
Sleep can be an elusive thing. But thanks to a NASA tech transfer, insomniacs can rest a little easier.
Imagine being able to inform decisions today that truly shape the future. That is the unique task of NASA’s Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate, or SAC-D.
Bundled up against the bitter cold, researchers in this NASA wind tunnel are making ice. Oh, well – the cold never bothered them anyway!
Think you’re a shutterbug? NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured over 100 million images!
The United Nations has declared 2015 the International Year of Light and NASA is joining the celebration by uploading amazing images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
The next time you see a picture of a polar plunge, take your temperature! Seeing pictures of the cold may actually lower your body temperature.
When Seahawks fans rocked the stadium, scientists put all that energy to good use to test a new seismograph.
Food poisoning puts thousands of lives at risk each year, but tracking tainted food just got easier with a harmless food additive that acts like a bar code.
A mind-bending illusion could make gifts of candy and flowers passé with this 3D printed vase that incorporates actual images.
It’s a plane --- it’s a really big plane and it’s the newest in a long line of Guppy cargo planes used by NASA.
Surgeons may soon head toward the light to wipe out deadly cancer cells, using a unique glowing compound that attaches only to diseased cells.
A new high-tech underwater drone is finding itself in cold water as it maps algae blooms under the ice.
In honor of one of our favorite American authors, we bring you this special Innovation Now because --- there really is no place like space!
A revolutionary treatment for eye disease was inspired by the technology used to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
Although they may seem like “old technology” by today’s standards, Hubble and Spitzer have done it again by giving scientists a glimpse into the birth of new stars – the heavenly kind.
Your planetary lander has gone flat – and that’s a good thing. We’ll look at the advantages of an unconventional design for space probes.
Could your city’s next power plant be located 200 miles overhead? A new design idea might make it possible.
As if we needed any more reasons to be interested in Europa, this fascinating Jovian moon has a new feature to tantalize scientists and make them want to play in the dirt.
If your teeth could talk, what would they tell you about your health. Say, “ahh” and we’ll tell you.
Traveling more than 8 billion miles, NASA’s MESSENGER Mission became the proving ground for some unique engineering designs.
When fighting Alzheimer’s, time becomes precious and a new blood test might give patients a year’s advance warning to get a jump on the disease.
The phrase, “Music to my ears,” takes on a whole new meaning as NASA scientists are being trained to listen to their data.
A high-tech delivery system for insulin might drastically reduce the need for needles in treating diabetics.
The same technology used to purify drinking water for the International Space Station is saving and improving lives in rural areas on Earth.
The tiniest satellites in space are built using smartphone components, but how do you build a rocket engine into a phone?
From art to robotics, NASA is interested in seeing just how flexible the Super Ball Bot can be.
As NASA looks forward to celebrating the centennial of aviation research, we all benefit from a legacy of excellence. From the cockpit to arrival terminals, NASA is with you when you fly.
Many of us scan QR codes to access sites on the Internet. But new technology could send us directly to information – no Internet required!
While pumping up the volume on the television set is a common practice for people over 70, the result is not always comfortable for others in the room. But what if you could target the audio to a single spot in the room?
NASA’s Dawn mission triumphed at Vesta so stay tuned for an encore performance at Ceres!
NASA plans to give smartphones to robots on the International Space Station, making the robots even smarter.
NASA is celebrating an amazing decade of discoveries around Saturn as the Cassini Spacecraft turns ten.
Good evening. I’ll be your server, and tonight’s specials are . . . whatever you would like us to print out!
Ever wish you had an extra set of hands? Now you can just strap on a pair of robotic arms to help get those projects done all by yourself.
Rolling out the red carpet is so last century. The latest thing is light-up LED carpet to fit any situation.
A special collar can tell when your dog or cat is sick, even before they show obvious symptoms.
Commercial fishermen as well as oceanographers share and depend on NASA satellite data to get the real fish story.
A NASA developed air cleaning system for the International Space Station inspires an asthma-busting air cleaner for homes and schools.
Cold stars and Goldilocks planets: just two of the amazing discoveries by NASA’s fleet of telescopes in space.
You’re in Maui, but your body is still in Cleveland. Re-set your body clock with an app that defeats jet lag!
NASA engineers are designing advanced rocket stages by crushing them. And the result is America’s super-sized Space Launch System.
Solutions to some of our most difficult challenges are often found in nature. This time, researchers are studying cats to make safer landings for robots.
It looks like something from a Transformers movie, but this Giant Research Robot is here to help NASA.
A long-time staple of science fiction is faster-than-light travel, by “Warp Drive”. Will we ever have one, for real?
We go into space to learn about the universe, but we can also learn more about ourselves.
The Interplanetary Internet is poised to get a massive speed upgrade, using lasers. Think of it as Broadband from beyond
Looking for some reasons to appreciate NASA technology? We can give you thirty thousand of them!
Tiny microbial fuel cells can break down human waste and give off electricity. Could they become our “number one” power source?
It’s a giant planet, bigger than Jupiter, orbiting a star, light-years away. So how can we tell if it has water?
You might think that every large body of water on Earth has been explored… Well, you’d be wrong.
A new satellite will take the most precise measurements yet of carbon dioxide around the globe, increasing our understanding of climate change.
Smart materials have revolutionized industry by helping produce better products. Now, NASA’s trying to make smart materials even smarter.
A subtle tingle to the sole may be just what the doctor ordered to keep seniors on their feet.
The answer to neutralizing a really smelly situation could be as simple as creating a white smell machine.
NASA is working with USC to design lunar structures, but could that same technology be used to build your next home?
Scientists use the designs and processes seen in nature to help solve human problems. But how can a squid make better televisions?
Flybys are difficult; going into orbit more difficult; and landing ---- ridiculously difficult. But the space agencies of Earth have added a seventh body to their list of landing successes.
It looks like something out of a science fiction movie, but SpiderFab could radically change the way we build and deploy spacecraft.
Opportunistic thieves create headaches for urban bike riders. But what if you rode an unstealable bike?
Orion’s first flight test isn’t just about the spacecraft, but the computer system that controls it as well.
From the drawing boards to the launch pad, the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 paves the way back to space for the United States.
In the future, astronauts may turn trash into treasures aboard their spacecraft by using the waste for radiation shielding.
It’s hard to stop people from responding to the lure to texting while driving, but smartphones may soon make it impossible.
Can a blood test be used to provide an objective diagnosis of depression? A team at Northwestern thinks so.
Hollywood takes to the air with special permission from the FAA to use drones in movie production.
Patches to quit smoking; patches for pain; and now a patch that changes color when your heart health is at risk.
NASA is taking to the skies to develop new air quality models and measure the amount of air pollution where people live and breathe.
NASA developed aerogel insulation technologies may now keep you warmer in your own home.
Are you a dancing machine? You could be --- literally, and use your dancing skills to improve traffic safety.
Don’t toss those empty chip bags; it’s chip wrappers to the rescue as students make low cost water purifiers that can be built in remote areas.
Think your job puts you right in the middle of the rat race? Embrace the race with your own human size hamster wheel.
Notice the upturned wings on your plane? They don’t just look cool. These wings have a job to do.
Groundbreaking technology could help us track smoke-filled skies and issue critical health warnings – all from the International Space Station.
Can’t remember the four things on your grocery list? You’re not alone, but a new treatment may just provide relief for the young and the old.
Holes in its soles – or at least its aluminum wheels, doesn’t stop Curiosity from reaching its primary objective, Mount Sharp.
Taking your favorite cashmere sweater to the dry cleaners may soon be a thing of the past.
Your phone already has custom wallpaper, custom ring-tones, custom colors... what if it also had custom smells?
Metal... or silk? It’s not a trick question, but one your doctor may be asking you in the near future.
Forecasters depend on a high-flying fleet of satellites to observe and warn about severe weather across the U.S.
An inventor applies Space Shuttle technology to protect your treasured belongings from disasters.
Technology has made some jobs obsolete... but it’s also created new jobs that never existed.
New super black nano-coating is headed to the International Space Station for some extreme testing.
From industry to space, hydrogen is a mainstay chemical, but until now, the difficulty detecting leaks often meant disaster.
With a growing demand for more renewable energy sources, a group of bio-engineers are turning a gut reaction into fuel.
Who would have imagined that folding fast food wrappers into cranes would one day lead to designing space-bound vehicles?
We call them superbugs – those antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. So what’s all the buzz about now?
Formula 1 race car drivers are always on the hot seat, but NASA many have a way to lower the temperature.
Take me out to the ball game - or in this case bring the game to me with the help of supersized gigapixel in-game shots that allow fans to view an entire stadium, or zoom in to see individuals in the crowd.
Researchers using 3-D modeling software and a 3-D printer have created a tangible model of a nebula that is so detailed a person without sight can identify the features of the distant star system.
How do you test a giant telescope before sending it to space? The engineers at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center created a unique testing chamber to simulate distant light in space.
From off-road to anode, researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory have devised a new use for old tires.
Dropping a stone into a pool causes ripples. But how do you measure those ripples that are coming from light-years away?
Stonehenge is one of the most recognized landscapes in the world, but the real mystery may just be what lies beneath the historic icons.
Although they may seem like OLD TECHNOLOGY by today's standards, Hubble and Spitzer have done it again, this time by giving scientists a glimpse into the birth of new stars, the heavenly kind.
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream, or maybe a 2-D pixelated world. Scientists are experimenting to see if our 3-D world is simply a holographic illusion.
With some high tech assistance, a test subject in India has sent messages to three other people in France, simply by thinking it.
The phrase MUSIC TO MY EARS takes on a whole new meaning as NASA scientists are being trained to listen to their data.
Too much water; too little water. What if your plants could send you a text message when they need to be watered?
Commercial fishermen as well as oceanographers share and depend on NASA satellite data to get the real fish story.
Standing on a huge levee, you may not be able to tell if it has moved a fraction of an inch... But NASA can.
Hey, your planetary lander has gone flat... and that is... okay?!? We will look at the advantages of an unconventional design for space probes.
Today, your phone battery sits in a compartment inside the phone. What if the entire phone WAS the battery?!?
There is a big future in wearable electronics and new ways to make STRETCHY wiring could soon make a fashion statement.
A NASA-developed air cleaning system for the International Space Station inspires an asthma-busting air cleaner for homes and schools.
NASA's newest communication antenna improves 24 hour a day communication with near Earth satellites.
As part of a technology transfer program, NASA turned over a unique software tool to the FAA that will help air traffic controllers better manage air space.
NASA continues to make science fiction, science fact. This time with robotic gardeners!
NASA satellites show an unexpected talent for predicting floods, up to five months in advance.
The Cassini Spacecraft turns ten years old: celebrating an amazing decade around Saturn.
The most dangerous infection is one you don't know you have. But a new device uses the infection's own DNA to track it down.
The shortest flights can still teach us a lot. Taking a hop into the future of planetary landers, with Project Morpheus.
NASA is hunting for exo-planets with a sunflower star shade that actually blocks star light.
You have GPS in your DNA - and it can pin-point your old neighborhood - from a thousand years ago!
Can we create a next generation battery that transforms space travel AND life on Earth? NASA thinks so.
NASA will launch a fleet of four probes to study the invisible currents behind our magnetosphere.
What does hypersonic vehicle research have to do with improved pacemakers? One key ingredient, developed by NASA, makes them both possible.
A new aid for driving up hills or parking in tight spots, makes the front of your car transparent.
Recent ship sinkings have inspired an idea for a unique life preserver - one that's meant for the ship itself.
Taking a hot shower can cost much less thanks to a new heat exchanger installed right in the bathroom floor.
When fighting Alzheimer's, time becomes precious and a new blood test might give patients a year's advance warning.
Good evening, I'll be your server, and tonight's specials are...whatever you'd like us to print out!
Forget the flat-packs and Allen wrenches: This furniture assembles itself, and changes to suit your needs.
Ever wish you had an extra set of hands? Now you can just strap on a pair of robotic arms.
An all-star team of four unique technologies is being used to target and destroy cancer cells without damaging the body's healthy cells.
You can't walk on water... but you CAN run on it, without sinking. The trick: Non-Newtonian Fluids.
Rolling out the red carpet is so last-century. The latest thing is light-up LED carpet.
A special collar can tell when your dog or cat is sick, even before they show obvious symptoms.
One proposal for a "green" supermarket will have you answering the question: "Paper, Plastic...or Bucket?"
A long-time staple of science fiction is faster-than-light travel, by "Warp Drive". Will we ever have one, for real?
A series of experiments on the International Space Station will teach us more about how to fight off infections here on Earth.
From the drawing boards to the launch pad, the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 paves the way back to space for the United States.
Scientists have developed thin, flexible micro-electronics for medical uses. Before you know it you may end up with a computer in your contacts!
NASA will launch a fleet of four probes to study the invisible currents behind our magnetosphere.
A successful space probe comes out of retirement and starts a second career, hunting for Earth-grazing asteroids with a "cold stare."
We'll weave a tale of how NASA is creating future heat shields with the help of a very old technology.
NASA is researching how to make a real working tractor beam! Stay tuned, or we'll just pull you back in!
It's the idea that gave Einstein a headache. But it works! Let's get entangled, with the strange new world of Quantum Communication!
Scientists are surprised by what they found under a massive sheet of ice. Find out about Greenland's dirty little secret!
Commercial fishermen as well as oceanographers share and depend on NASA satellite data to get the real fish story.
Standing on a huge levee, you may not be able to tell if it has moved a fraction of an inch... But NASA can.
NASA brings together a record number of programmers to Hack Space Exploration. See what they created!
Hey, your planetary lander's gone flat... and that's... okay? We'll look at the advantages of an unconventional design for space probes.
Today, your phone's battery sits in a compartment inside the phone. What if the entire phone WAS the battery?
No brakes. No accelerator, or steering wheel, for that matter. Google's first self-driving car drives like riding an elevator.
There's a big future in wearable electronics and new ways to make "stretchy" wiring could soon make a fashion statement.
A NASA-developed air cleaning system for the International Space Station inspires an asthma-busting air cleaner for homes and schools.
A high-flying view from the space station helps farmers and ranchers in the Northern plains states.
Can we harvest electricity from the flow of daily rush hour traffic? One inventor thinks so.
In oceans around the world, coral reefs sustain damage - can we save them with 3-d-printed coral?
Cold stars, and Goldilocks planets: just two of the amazing discoveries by NASA's fleet of telescopes in space.
The shortest flights can still teach us a lot. Taking a hop into the future of planetary landers, with Project Morpheus.
Your phone already has custom wallpaper, custom ring-tones, custom colors... what if it also had custom smells?
Metal... or silk? It's not a trick question, but one your doctor may be asking you in the near future
Forecasters depend on a high-flying fleet of satellites to observe and warn about severe weather across the U.S
Safe flying drones compete for a half million-dollar prize in one of NASA's Centennial Challenges
NASA is hunting for exo-planets with a sunflower star shade that actually blocks star light
You have GPS in your DNA - and it can pin-point your old neighborhood - from a thousand years ago!
It's hard to stop people from texting while driving. But smart phones themselves may soon put a stop to it
A simple software modification to your smartphone could keep you from texting yourself right into an open manhole, or public fountain
This year's Space Apps Challenge hackathon spawned an amazing number of space-related apps and inventions. You can even test out many of the new apps for yourself!
Can we create a next generation battery that transforms space travel AND life on Earth? NASA thinks so
An inventor applies Space Shuttle technology to protect your treasured belongings from disasters
A new aid for driving up hills or parking in tight spots, makes the front of your car transparent
You're in Maui... but your body's still in Cleveland. Re-set your body clock, with an app that defeats jet-lag!
Technology has made some jobs obsolete... but it's also created new jobs that never existed
NASA will launch a fleet of four probes to study the invisible currents behind our magnetosphere
What does hypersonic vehicle research have to do with improved pacemakers? One key ingredient, developed by NASA, makes them both possible
Today: A story of epic engineering and technical improvisation, building a world-class mission with spare parts, to save and improve lives on Earth
NASA's built a robot that can climb rock walls. Someday, it may help astronauts climb on asteroids
The tiniest passengers traveling to the International Space Station have a big job- as stunt doubles for space travelers
Robot arms from the shuttle and space station are the basis for a new way to combat breast cancer
When your mission is to study everything about the Universe, you are going to be collecting LOTS of data. But where does it all go?
There's a big future, in the production of tiny droplets of water. We'll condense it all down for you, next
For 42 years, we've relied on NASA's Landsat program to uncover Earth's mysteries and Landsat 8 continues the mission
As if we needed any more reasons to be interested in Europa: this fascinating Jovian moon has a new feature to tantalize scientists
One member of the International Space Station crew is getting something it never had before: a new pair of legs
A new satellite will take the most precise measurements yet of carbon dioxide around the globe
9,000 feet up in the Chilean Andes, the eye of a new telescope can now directly see planets orbiting around distant stars
You might think that every large body of water on Earth has been explored. Well, you'd be wrong
A series of experiments on the International Space Station will teach us more about how to fight off infections here on Earth
From the drawing boards to the launch pad, the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 paves the way back to space for the United States
Scientists have developed thin, flexible micro-electronics for medical uses. Before you know it you may end up with a computer in your contacts!
NASA will launch a fleet of four probes to study the invisible currents behind our magnetosphere
A successful space probe comes out of retirement and starts a second career, hunting for Earth-grazing asteroids with a cold stare.
A long-awaited improved thruster fuel has passed its tests and is go for launch into space, soon!
Advanced techniques for fabricating lightweight fuel tanks will help spacecraft go farther than ever before
In the future, astronauts may turn trash into treasure aboard their spacecraft; we'll explain why next
The secret source for American Industrial innovation goes public, when NASA is open for business!
Looking for some reasons to appreciate NASA technology? We can give you thirty thousand of them!
This spacecraft has the biggest, most powerful engine ever... the sun! All aboard the Sun Jammer!
How far would you go, to win one point five million? Now, can you do it, with a robotic rover?
Today's smartphones are pretty powerful. Powerful enough to fly themselves around the International Space Station!
We'll trace how many American companies bring new products to market with technology transferred from NASA
We'll weave a tale of how NASA is creating future heat shields with the help of a very old technology
Evolving space suit designs look nothing like what you're used to - but they might keep you healthier in space, as well as on Earth!
The surface of Venus is hot enough to melt lead... so the obvious way to drive a Venus rover is... by sailing it!?
Could your city's next power plant be located 200 miles overhead? A new design idea might make it possible.
NASA is researching how to make a real working tractor beam! Stay tuned, or we'll just pull you back in!
Space Station Salad- a new experiment will let astronauts grow their own veggies in orbit
An advanced material destroys bacteria on contact, without chemicals. We'll tell you how it works, next!
You know that thunder comes along with lightning. But does lightning, start, from thousand year old cosmic rays?
Color changing paint? Higher performing engines? No, the most significant feature you can expect at the Auto Show is all about connections
Color changing paint? Higher performing engines? No, the most significant feature you can expect at the Auto Show is all about connections
What's the biggest telescope lens you can think of? Nope, not even close. How about lenses made from galaxies?
Bend it, flex it, then heat it- and this new alloy snaps back into shape for thousands of cycles
NASA scientists discuss what makes a possible mission to Europa so exciting- three things that could mean life
Identical twins will compare their physical changes, after one of them spends a year in orbit
Wireless devices of the future may have an unusual backup power system: stealing free energy from the air itself
A JPL experiment is showing promise in giving future planetary rovers a chance to choose their own exploration targets
Scientists and engineers learn to improve mechanical devices by imitating nature. Today, we take a new look at adjustable lenses
A new rescue device can detect your heartbeat and respiration, even thru 20 feet of concrete
Spiders may creep you out... but spider silk is definitely useful. Can we make the silk, without the spiders?
Do YOU have The Right Stuff ...to spend 70 days, flat in bed...for science? NASA is hiring!
A breakthrough in organic electronics could turn any glass surface into a see-through audio speaker.
A new plastic muscle can lift 80 times its own weight. Plus, it can do one trick real muscles can't.
A high-tech delivery system for insulin might drastically reduce the need for needles in treating diabetics.
Smart materials have revolutionized industry by helping produce better products. Now, NASA's trying to make smart materials even smarter.
There are several ways to get pure hydrogen out of water. The best one might be to let the sun do it for you.
It's a giant planet, bigger than Jupiter, orbiting a star, light-years away. So how can we tell if it has water?
To make batteries last longer, scientists replace rigid materials to make them self-healing.
Today: A story of epic engineering and technical improvisation, building a world-class mission with spare parts, to save and improve lives on Earth.
You can make chili with beer and you can make bread with beer. Now you can make bricks with beer
A high-flying view from the space station helps farmers and ranchers in the Northern plains states
An advanced material destroys bacteria on contact, without chemicals. We'll tell you how it works, next!
The same technology used to purify drinking water for the space station, is saving and improving lives in rural areas on Earth
Tiny microbial fuel cells can break down human waste and give off electricity. Could they become our number one power source?
NASA's built a robot that can climb rock walls. Someday, it may help astronauts climb on asteroids
The tiniest passengers traveling to the International Space Station have a big job as stunt doubles for space travelers
Can we harvest electricity from the flow of daily rush hour traffic? One inventor thinks so
We go into space to learn about the universe, but we can also learn more about ourselves
Who's got the sharpest eye? We'll see what happens when you turbo charge a ground-based telescope with Adaptive Optics
Cactus needles point the way to absorbing ocean oil spills. Stick around for the explanation!
An experimental launch system proposed by NASA Uses The World's Biggest Glider as a flying launch pad
You know that thunder comes along with lightning. But does lightning, start, from thousand year-old cosmic rays?
Robot arms from the shuttle and space station are the basis for a new way to combat breast cancer
Color changing paint? Higher performing engines? No, the most significant feature you can expect at the Auto Show is all about connections
Color changing paint? Higher performing engines? No, the most significant feature you can expect at the Auto Show is all about connections
What's the biggest telescope lens you can think of? Nope, not even close. How about lenses made from galaxies?
Bend it, flex it, then heat it: and this new alloy snaps back into shape for thousands of cycles.
A new plastic muscle can lift 80 times its own weight. Plus, it can do one trick real muscles can't.
The tiniest satellites in space are built using smartphone components... but how do you build a rocket engine into a phone?
One of NASA's four Great Space Observatories gets a new lease on life after retirement, hunting for exo-planets.
Welcome to the odd world of two dimensional semi conductors, where defects are actually a useful improvement!
A rival technology to silicon computer chips, takes its first baby steps, into the future of computing
When your mission is to study everything about the Universe, you are going to be collecting LOTS of data- But where does it all go?
There's a big future, in the production of tiny droplets of water. We'll condense it all down for you, next
NASA's Deep Impact probe retires after going above and beyond... Way beyond its initial mission
Wireless devices of the future may have an unusual backup power system- stealing free energy from the air itself
If your teeth could talk, what could they tell you about your health? Say aah, and we'll tell you
Scientists and engineers learn to improve mechanical devices by imitating nature. Today, we take a new look at adjustable lenses
A JPL experiment is showing promise in giving future planetary rovers a chance to choose their own exploration targets
Space Station Salad: a new experiment will let astronauts grow their own veggies in orbit
You may have bought the hot new phone... but how do you keep it from getting TOO hot? With A Cellphone Spacesuit
Here's a great chef's challenge - being creative with your ingredients 140 million miles from home
A NASA built rocket engine sets a world record by running continuously for more than five and a half years
A new rescue device can detect your heartbeat and respiration, even thru 20 feet of concrete
Do YOU have The Right Stuff ...to spend 70 days, flat in bed...for science? NASA is hiring!
A new way to immunize without using hypodermic needles, could eradicate polio worldwide and make life easier for patients at home
Who's got the sharpest eye? We'll see what happens when you turbo charge a ground based telescope with Adaptive Optics
Identical twins will compare their physical changes, after one of them spends a year in orbit
How do you make a hard drive hold more and more in the same space? Use smaller magnetic particles
NASA scientists discuss what makes a possible mission to Europa so exciting- three things that could mean life
Cactus needles point the way to absorbing ocean oil spills. Stick around for the explanation!
A NASA discovery leads to products that are helping to build the largest space telescope ever!
From paint to sunscreen to food additives, titanium dioxide is a useful tool. Now, a new technique may make it a useful green fuel producer
A new instrument will track the Big Three cycles of Water, Carbon, and Energy from space
A NASA technology for solving a shaky rocket's vibration problems could totally change how we quake-proof buildings, bridges...and more!
We look at LED-based bulbs in a new light - replacing rare Earth minerals with common sand
Space station scientists create controlled fires in microgravity to protect future astronauts and people on Earth
Researchers at Binghamton University have designed a new microphone that's about the size of a mustard seed
The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph is one of NASA's Small Explorer Missions, but there's nothing small about studying the sun
New techniques in the search for alien planets let us observe them directly, and even tell us what they're made of
Algae lamp absorbs 200 times more carbon dioxide than trees, doesn't require electricity
NASA is collaborating with the European Space Agency on a space telescope designed to see and measure dark matter and dark energy
Instead of sending up heavy and expensive pieces to build a space station, why not just inflate one?
We look at a radical design for sampling comets and small asteroids, and bringing those samples back
Astronauts dress in high tech, all the way to their underwear... and now, you can, too!
A new generation of robotic prospectors is gearing up to explore the Moon... but instead of gold, they're searching for something much more valuable
Researcher's are using the microgravity environment on the International Space Station to unlock the mysteries of brain diseases
A NASA discovery leads to products that are helping to build the largest space telescope ever!
A new invention to inspect helicopter wiring saves time and money - and makes the skies safer
Historians, archivists and government clerks have a new tool to preserve old data thanks to a time capsule on the moon
A headset for realistic video entertainment has become a new tool for precision laparoscopic surgery with less pain and faster healing
A breakthrough innovation will change the way we see motion in everything from blood to buildings
Advanced techniques for fabricating lightweight fuel tanks will help spacecraft go farther than ever before
From paint to sunscreen to food additives, titanium dioxide is a useful tool. Now, a new technique may make it a useful green fuel producer
Engineers in England are looking at improving a refrigerator design from Einstein to reduce greenhouse gas
A new instrument will track the Big Three - cycles of Water, Carbon, and Energy from space
Sampling the hidden, hard-to-reach parts of your body to find disease might become easier, using fleets of microscopic forceps
Space station scientists create controlled fires in microgravity to protect future astronauts and people on Earth
NASA tests new formulations of jet fuels, made from blends of traditional jet fuel and a bio-derived fuel from plants.
NASA's is collaborating with the European Space Agency on a space telescope designed to see and measure dark matter and dark energy.
A NASA technology for solving a shaky rocket's vibration problems could totally change how we quake-proof buildings, bridges...and more!
Cleaning surgical instruments with the power of the sun will make surgeries safer in places without power
A long awaited improved thruster fuel has passed its tests and is go for launch into space!
Scientists at U.C. Santa Barbara have been working on sensors that emulate and surpass a canine's ability to sniff and identify chemicals
NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory has put a powerful imaging system on the International Space Station that's aimed at long term, detailed imaging of ocean coasts
Doctors doing pediatric heart surgery can now practice their work before the operation, thanks to 3D printing
A spectrographic instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope has confirmed the first blue exoplanet
We look at LED-based bulbs in a new light replacing rare Earth minerals with common sand
Researchers at Binghamton University have designed a new microphone that is about the size of a mustard seed
Space Shuttle expertise lives on in a new form, as a former Shuttle worker adapts old gear to new jobs
Researchers in Switzerland are working on new camera sensors that see as well as human eyes
Although todays UAVs are most commonly associated with military actions, integrating them safely into commercial airspace could bring new benefits for the public
Thanks to improved chemistry, the rechargeable lithium batteries in your portable electronics could soon get a four-fold bump in performance
To test cutting-edge navigation sensors, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center builds a pulsar... on a tabletop
When you are training to visit Mars or an asteroid, the next best place to practice might just be... deep in a cave
A team at the University of California, San Diego thinks first responders of the future might look like Segway scooters with eyes!
The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph is one of NASAs Small Explorer Missions, but there is nothing small about studying the sun
That scifi staple, the Tractor Beam, is actually becoming real, at least on a laboratory scale
NASA is launching the first mission dedicated to studying the upper atmospheric layers of Mars in detail
Researchers at University of Minnesota show how to fly a remote controlled drone using only thoughts
A new camera design from Bell Laboratories takes sharp pictures even in 3D, using no lens at all
We look at a radical design for sampling comets and small asteroids, and bringing those samples back
Tracking an old killer, with a fast and easy new laser-magnetic asbestos detection system
New techniques in the search for alien planets let us observe them directly, and even tell us what they are made of
Space communications advance as a NASA lunar probe switches from radio relays to laser beams
An international mass collaboration focused on space exploration took place over 48-hours in cities around the world this April
There's a secret history on the new SpaceX Dragon spaceship's snow-white coating that's both high-tech and time-tested
A welders-eye view for industrial processes sees the un-seeable, with a little help from NASA
A technology created by NASA for use on space helmets is making its way to the world of art
Just how do American companies bring new products to market with technology transferred from NASA
Hearing aids and ear buds meet the next level in acoustic technology, to listen better, not louder
Over 30,000 people have been saved using Personal Locator Beam technology and it just got an update
Algae lamp absorbs 200-times more carbon dioxide than trees, doesn't require electricity
A college undergrad invents a futuristic gel that can stop bleeding a heal wounds faster
Merging actual reality and virtual reality could be on the horizon for training and safety simulations
Astronauts dress in high-tech, all the way to their underwear... and now, you can, too!
A new kind of flexible, dry sensor makes monitoring your heart and vital signs as easy as putting on a t-shirt
NASA suggests a new way of looking at Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases that's out of this world
A unique solar panel design goes from powering distant probes, to powering utilities in the Southwest U.S
A NASA-derived innovation makes the skies safer by saving time to test wiring in aircraft
Five and a half decades after first being discovered, the Van Allen Belts continue to surprise us
A silicon chip that outshines most solar panels shows the power of solar electricity magnified
NASA helps shrink an entire trauma center into a briefcase, for saving lives anywhere on the planet - or above it
A NASA innovation for aircraft is also keeping trains going, by preventing ice buildup on the tracks
Scientists are studying nano-scale crystals found in snail's teeth to learn how to improve solar cells and batteries.
Imagine a city skyscraper that also filters pollution out of the air, turning it into bio-fuel.
In the future, astronauts may crush and heat space trash to turn it into radiation shielding material.
Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are developing a robot that can dig up hidden water ice on the moon.
Chemists in the Netherlands are working on a supergel that can mimic structures of the body to act as scaffolding for healing wounds
You've tried to catch snowflakes on your tongue - now there's a camera that can grab them in mid-air
A new generation of robotic prospectors is gearing up to explore the Moon... but instead of gold, they're searching for something much more valuable
Disposable, paper USB drives could add multimedia capabilities to everything from tickets to advertising to greeting cards
Employing new methods to record digital information will lead to data storing that is safe from degradation for up to 100 million years
Office towers of the future may use metallic skins to control heat, and let the building breathe to stay cool
A group at Duke University in North Carolina has developed an infra-red sensor or camera that uses meta-materials to replace the lens
A probe hunting for planets outside our solar system keeps bringing in a bountiful harvest
The Light Emitting Diode, or L.E.D., is fifty years old now. But it's still learning new tricks!
NASA has a satellite in development that will provide a full coast-to-coast detailed look at U.S. air quality
Instead of sending up heavy and expensive pieces to build a space station, why not just inflate one?
New information about sports concussions leads to advanced helmet designs that can save lives as well as games
Crowdsourcing has made its way to Mars and Scientists need YOUR help to study the Red Planet
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke has inspired the largest space-based sail of its kind
Simple gestures, like a wave of your hand, may soon be how we all interact with our computers
NASA shoot a laser beam containing an image of the Mona Lisa at one of its satellites - all in the name of faster communications
A breakthrough in reading brain signals leads to prosthetic limbs that work based on your thoughts
A new breakthrough in micro-circuitry could have macro-implications on communications, medicine and computing
Software upgrades to the Fermi Space Telescope have made the orbiting gamma ray detector even better than when it left Earth!
Some cutting-edge robots are competing for a two million dollar prize and it could save your life one day
Engineers team with NASA to create Zero-G methods for creating medications and vaccines
It looks like a sci-fi movie special effect... but it seems to burn away leukemia while leaving healthy cells intact
The next time you huddle in a crowd at a snowy bus stop, you may THINK you know how to keep warm, but Penguins have you beat
Researchers at the University of Maryland modeled how electromagnetic waves bounce off various objects with implications that could lead to hyper-secure omni-directional radios, and even power beaming
The Voyager spacecraft are still reporting new discoveries, from the edge of our solar system
The PhoneSat mission kept costs down by using off-the-shelf smart phones as the "guts" of the tiny orbiters and won a Popular Science 2012 Best Of What's New Award
Touch screens were a breakthrough in computer interactivity. But we've seen the next step... and it's seen us, too!
Engineering students turn obsolete technology into advanced learning tools with a microfilm projector in Africa
For fans of old vinyl records, there's a new trend in computing that's similarly retro: The Return of Analog computing!
Meet a gossamer material, one atom thick that can stop a particle at the speed of a bullet
Researchers at NASA Glenn work to make drones safer to fly in and around local civil and commercial aircraft
A tiny satellite has led the way to making orbital science more practical and affordable than ever before
Neil Armstrong's footprints on the moon have an unlikely connection to your future local weather forecast
Neil Armstrong's footprints on the moon have an unlikely connection to your future local weather forecast
Credit card users in Singapore are getting an upgrade - to a credit card that's its own portable financial terminal
We review the success and scares of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO spacecraft
Transient Electronic Devices can be implanted in a human body and then dissolve away completely in anything from weeks to minutes
A mission to Pluto turns into cosmic dodgeball, when scientists discover new moons on the way to their target
A system for poultry farmers uses chicken's own waste products to generate heat for their coops
The next location for a manned space station might be really far out. As in, beyond the Moon!
Robot manufacturers keep making progress on robots that can use human tools and environments and work with as well as for us
Floating runways could solve future capacity problems at one of the world's busiest airports.
It never leaves lower Earth orbit... but the International Space Station is helping us get to Mars
Bill Gates hopes to save millions of lives worldwide... by funding the toilet of the future.
Ten universities across the nation win funding for trail-blazing new space technologies
Giant inflatable plugs for subway train tunnels may protect cities from hurricanes and more
A competition coming up next summer at Worcester Polytechnic Institute could pave the way to the next generation of robotic explorers
Paratroopers at Fort Bragg are using a new kind of parachute, the first update to the design in over fifty years
Tapping in to NASA expertise, a Huntsville Alabama company developed a line of ultra-portable satellite communication systems that perform as well as rigid dishes
80 percent of your universe has been in hiding... but new evidence sheds some light on it.
A new folding car goes into production in Spain and it may just transform the way your city looks and works
Technologies employed on the Curiosity rover's robotic arm are impacting medical factories back here on Earth
Cars in Ann Arbor, Michigan will use wireless communications to talk to each other in an attempt to enhance driving safety
NASA works on developing a new class of green rocket fuels that are safer, and more environmentally responsible
A new open source project attempts to solve the complexity of building experimental and amateur aircraft
The next generation in planetary landing vehicles takes some 100 foot baby steps and we're there to see it!
NASA sails the oceans measuring ocean salinity to help improve climate models and weather prediction
Imagine a robotic spider, building a kilometer wide web in space, to catch galactic radio signals ...or relay your phone calls
We explore how to using quantum entanglement to send messages more efficiently, and more securely, in a future quantum Internet
A new app allows users to monitor water quality and potentially warn of possible well water contamination
NASA builds a working, living office building developed to consider its own environment
Networked cameras and tracking software are helping collect the latest stats of your favorite basketball players
Scientists studying face-to-face communication have created a computer algorithm that's better than humans at reading authentic smiles
A NASA NIAC supported concept could lead to spacecraft that could be printed and enable exploration in exciting new ways
A group of scientists and engineers are designing a futuristic robotic sea scout based on characteristics of jellyfish
Imagine if the entire floor in your house had multi-touch capability like your smartphone
NASA helped test materials for emergency exit signs that illuminate without the need for electricity, maintenance, or a power connection
Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have developed a more accurate way to predict space weather which can lead to earlier warnings for communications blackouts
A new recipe for thermoelectric materials helps scientists make power from heat that's normally wasted
Sony Corporation has demonstrated a unique battery that generates electricity by digesting scraps of waste paper
Bioengineers at UC-San Diego say glowing bacteria could be used as innovative pollution sensors
A process called bio-mining uses specially-bred bacteria to eat the metals from rock, and even purify contaminated soil!
Researchers at the University of Southampton are perfecting a much more efficient way to wash things, using microscopic water bubbles vibrated with ultrasonics
Some people join a gym to flex their muscles, and some are joining to exercise their brains!
A thin, ceramic based coating, designed for protecting spacecraft makes its way to your oven
Your plane may know a shortcut to your next destination, thanks to NASA - originated software
Technology used to find underwater cable damage could be modified to usher in a new generation of touch sensitive products
By digitizing the collection into a NASA-derived open source data standard called FITS, researchers worldwide can future-proof their archives
NASA is mapping out how to meet their goal of quieter, cleaner, greener, and faster aircraft for the future.
Scientists have created a new process to make solar cells that you can paint on a wall or roof
Researchers at the University of Virginia are exploring ways to enable sensors to smell and therefore detect impending earthquakes early
Crossing 18 wheelers with space technology... to design the super trucks of the future!
Future bridges, airplanes, and even spaceships may be made out of super strong fiber-reinforced ... foam!
The key to protecting a NASA facility from a hurricane turns out to be its own scientific data
A new approach to an established fuel could lead to more power options for machinery, cars and perhaps even spacesuits!
X-ray lasers usually cover an area the size of a football field, but a new design can fit on a table-top
A process to embed frozen smoke in materials could keep your feet warm on Mount Everest or cool in Death Valley.
Bio-reactors are the wave of the future for making food proteins, plastics, and medicines.
A trend in architecture and homebuilding that aims to put the most house in the smallest footprint
80 percent of your universe has been in hiding... but new evidence sheds some light on it.
Tiny satellites could deliver outstanding results on a low budget for space research projects
A NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts project is explores a technique called contour crafting as a potential for automated machines to build shelters, roads, landing platforms, and more on the Moon.
Rocket Science improves how doctors care for brain injury patients, with the awesome power of algorithms.
We look at the winning idea in a recent contest to suggest new experiments to fly onboard the International Space Station
We take a look at future technology to explore and use caves and lava tubes on the moon
Networked cameras and tracking software are watching helping collect the latest stats of your favorite basketball players
English engineers are planning to use hardware from an off-the-shelf video game system to dock small satellites together in space
Doctors looking for clues to vision changes in astronauts may have found a cause for vision loss in the elderly
Students at Dartmouth College are busy this summer building forty-five science payloads bound for Antarctica
Scientists studying face-to-face communication have created a computer algorithm that's better than humans at reading authentic smiles
Engineers working with space hardware at the Kennedy Space Center are experimenting with a portable clean room that has no ceiling!
Forget soap and water-the high-tech way to clean and sterilize your hands is with a plasma beam!
Some manufacturers say thinking inks could lead to a future with no more wires, buttons or switches
The Multiple Mirror Array will be part of a telescope that hunts for new planets around other stars, with a clearer view
A test mission for an inflatable heat shield that could change the way we explore other worlds is scheduled to take flight this month!
We look at the winning idea in a recent contest to suggest new experiments to fly onboard the International Space Station
Researchers and students at the University of Pennsylvania are working on bringing a realistic sense of touch to virtual simulation
A NASA NIAC supported concept could lead to spacecraft that could be printed and enable exploration in exciting new ways.
With support from NASA's NIAC program, Draper Laboratory and MIT are prototyping advanced biosuits that could keep future astronauts strong
If you've ever been blind-sided by weather related flight delays, you'll appreciate how NASA and the FAA see a new hi-tech solution!
A breakthrough sponge for oil spill clean up is being demonstrated in the labs at Rice University
An advanced laser scalpel so precise, it can work on parts of a single, individual cell
A $1.5 Million prize purse is up for grabs during a NASA Centennial Challenges competition to develop rovers that can autonomously find and retrieve objects.
A power satellite concept called SPS-ALPHA, mimics how biological organisms grow and operate to beam power down to Earth
Electrical engineers are re-inventing the local transformers that connect your home and neighborhood to the power grid
A former NASA engineer thinks about unconventional places to find new park space, in crowded urban environments
IBM has gotten into the electric car business with an ambitious plant to develop a lithium-air rechargeable battery that gets its 500-mile range by "breathing."
MIT is researching a different way of replicating objects, using building blocks and sand.
Imagine if the entire floor in your house had multi-touch capability like your smartphone.
NASA is exploring a Deep Space Atomic Clock that could enable future probes to self-navigate.
Researchers are looking at using ultrasound to move kidney stones out of the body,without surgery
The key to protecting a NASA facility from a hurricane turns out to be its own scientific data
DARPA and the National Science Foundation have found a way around the main problems with current eyeglass-style VR goggles
Cities are analyzing drinking and treated water with tools based on technology developed for future gardens in space
Oklahoma State University are working on a capsule you could put into a glass of water to pull out radioactive contamination
This year at least two flying cars have made successful test flights. Is the future here yet?
A biocapsule device designed at NASA for use with astronauts on deep space missions may change the face of Earth medicine
NASA is co-hosting a challenge to identify 10 game-changing innovations that could transform waste management
The Google Glasses project aims to create a new way for humans to see and interact with their world
A satellite scanning the entire sky in infrared light has led to an atlas whose legacy will endure for decades
A multi-armed robotic handyman built by the Canadian Space Agency helps test satellite repair missions on the International Space Station
Researchers at the University of Sheffield have revolutionized the electron microscope by developing a new method which could create the highest resolution images ever seen
The HIAD project is testing high-tech materials and designs to see if an inflatable spacecraft can change the way we explore other worlds
It's stronger than titanium, bounces like rubber, molds like plastic, and they call it liquid metal
NASA is helping to stop ice build-up on aircraft surfaces long before you leave the runway
Scheduling software for the Hubble Space Telescope has been adapted to reduce hospital waiting time for patients
NASA's expertise on spectral imaging comes from long years of practice, making scientific sensors for space probes ever smaller, and more powerful
Integrating cameras, computers, and trimmers takes the guesswork out of getting sails set up correctly
NASA helped test materials for emergency exit signs that illuminate without the need for electricity, maintenance, or a power connection
NASA,the State of Florida and Surtreat created a liquid treatment for concrete that stops rebar erosion
The U.S. Navy is building a firefighting robot that could be as capable as a human, without the risk of lost life.
A debris cutter used to free accident victims uses the same power source that separates rocket boosters from the space shuttle.
The space probe MESSENGER is using advanced power electronics as it orbits the planet Mercury
Choosing the best ingredients for their creation is just as important to aerospace designers as it is chefs
Sportswear coming to market can measure your body's performance and relay it in real-time to a laptop, or even your smartphone
NASA open source software that started as a software visualization tool for presenting satellite climate data has evolved into so much more
Researchers in Singapore are developing a robot to aid in cancer removal surgery that's inspired by a crab dish
A thin,ceramic-based coating, designed for protecting spacecraft makes its way to your oven
When NASA launched a special imager for studying solar flares, they broke new ground in how to look at x-rays from space
Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have developed a more accurate way to predict space weather which can lead to earlier warnings for communications blackouts.
A team of scientists are trying to teach future robotic aircraft just how fast they should fly!
A new recipe for thermoelectric materials helps scientists make power from heat that's normally wasted
Understanding details of the Albumin crystal enables researchers to tailor many drug molecules to be safer and more effective
A challenge from DARPA leads to a tiny aircraft that looks and flies like a hummingbird.
NASA releases flexible and open source software for organizing and making sense of huge, wide-spread datasets
Your plane may know a shortcut to your next destination, thanks to NASA - originated software
A Small Tennessee company is using NASA technology to build better fans to ventilate tunnels
Technology used to find underwater cable damage could be modified to usher in a new generation of touch sensitive products
Lessons-learned from making airbags bound for Mars are helping keep things safe closer to home.
By digitizing the collection into a NASA-derived open source data standard, researchers worldwide can future-proof their archives.
Researchers at UC Berkeley study how robots can get better balance and control by having tails like lizards.
Sony Corporation has demonstrated a unique battery that generates electricity by digesting scraps of waste paper
Using checklists, specific rules and procedures for communicating and problem-solving, has made flying and visiting a hospital much safer.
Scientists are researching malaria resistant mosquitoes to help smack down the disease before it's transmitted to humans.
NASA is mapping out how to meet their goal of quieter, cleaner, greener, and faster aircraft for the future
Description: Bioengineers at UC-San Diego say glowing bacteria could be used as innovative pollution sensors.
Scientists have created a new process to make solar cells that you can "paint-on" a wall or roof.
NASA is interested in a new concept proposed by engineers at the University of Illinois for electronic circuitry that can repair itself.
NASA's Dryden and Langley Flight Research centers explore how planes might be flown at mach-busting speeds without disturbing noise on the ground.
University students are challenged by NASA to develop ground-breaking approaches for orbital debris removal
Through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, the University of Michigan and Raytheon corporation are looking at a method that uses puffs of air to safely de-orbit space junk
A process called bio-mining uses specially-bred bacteria to eat the metals from rock, and even purify contaminated soil!
Finding breakthroughs that could revolutionize space exploration is a driving force behind NIAC, the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program. One NIAC study looks at how rockets could fly faster, more direct paths to other planets.
Researchers at the University of Virginia are exploring ways to enable sensors to smell and therefore detect impending earthquakes early.
NASA connects with the bright minds of college students as the students share innovative design concepts for human missions to near earth objects, like an asteroid.
The Naval Research Laboratory and NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program are supporting experimental research that could make future bacteria-powered micro-rovers run with incredible range.
A new technology developed at the Dublin Institute of Technology sheds new light on one way to keep floors free from bacteria.
Researchers at the University of Southampton are perfecting a much more efficient way to wash things, using microscopic water bubbles vibrated with ultrasonics.
A NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts project aims to design a hybrid concept for space probes to comets, asteroids, and small moons.
A fleet of robotic ocean explorers use water wings capture the free energy of passing waves and convert it into propulsion.
University students compete in a NASA program to design lunar outpost architectures that go beyond the scope of just how to live on the Moon, but also establish a lunar economy.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have hit upon a possible answer for powering micro-devices using a cloth that generates power, any time it flexes.
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program is investigating a technique called 'contour crafting' as a potential for automated machines to build shelters, roads, landing platforms, and more on the Moon.
Through NASA's RASC-AL competitions, university students work on comprehensive mission designs for Mars that include breakthroughs in the tough challenges that come with exploring extraterrestrial environments.
NASA' Innovative Advanced Concepts program and researchers at MIT are looking at using electromagnetic fields to make parts that can unfold and become lightweight, rigid structural objects in space
Engineers from Rice University and Motorola created a computer program that can use data trends from thousands of individual sports fans as human computer sensors.
DARPA is encouraging researchers to come up with a solution to fight illness that's NOT an antibiotic, in the traditional sense.
NASA's NIAC program is exploring a concept that uses specially-tuned laser beams to fetch individual molecules of gas, and dust, thru space - sort of like the tractor beam from science fiction.
Car makers are working with the Department Of Energy to adapt NASA spacecraft technology that could replace your old AC with thermo-electrics.
Crossing 18 wheelers with space technology... to design the super-trucks of the future!
Some people join a gym to flex their muscles, and some are joining to exercise their brains!
NASA spacesuits become beachwear...while saving the lives of people with a rare illness
And the winner is ... an electric plane over 10 times more efficient than modern commercial aircraft!
Scientists are learning how to create artificial limbs that respond to thought patterns
Future bridges, airplanes, and even spaceships may be made out of super strong fiber-reinforced ... foam!
Better weather forecasting and improved climate change data are coming thanks to a next-generation satellite recently launched by NASA.
As we head toward the end of this year, a pair of lunar spacecraft are headed toward some big discoveries!
NASA researchers are using lasers to remotely measure wind with greater precision than ever.
Long ago, sailing ships made it possible to explore all corners of our world. Soon, a new type of sail that could help us explore the rest of the universe will be unfurled!
Some of history's greatest tech ideas were born in garages. One innovative company is bringing that creative environment back for its employees.
A new NASA facility is one small step for architectural design, and one giant leap toward the future of the workplace.
Recent scientific breakthroughs could lead to batteries that recharge in 90 seconds... and last a decade!
Scientists at Perdue University recently created a new material that absorbs 99 percent of all light that hits it, making it the darkest black on Earth.
Sailors, hikers, and mountain climbers have a new way to make sure help is on the way - right when it's needed most.
Self-driving cars may finally be moving from science fiction movies, right into your home garage.
An upcoming satellite mission tests replacing radio links in future spacecraft with lasers.
A futuristic monitoring system originally conceived for spaceships may soon help keep you safe on the road.
A transportation concept born in the 1950s is now taking airport passengers in London toward the future.
Online gamers are helping unlock some tough biochemistry puzzles - that have stumped researchers for years!
Nanotechnology - this science of the future is making present-day life on Earth a little safer.
An immersive technology opens the virtual door to some the world's most acclaimed art museums.
Specially engineered space undergarments are giving a new twist to the term 'long-duration mission.'
Technology built for future moon rovers may one day keep you from getting a flat tire here on Earth!
Does osteoporosis have you rattled? Exercise techniques from space could lead to new treatments for patients on Earth.
Technology from a space mission that tested Einstein's theories is changing the face of farming around the world
NASA is testing a tiny super-cooling heat pump that may change the way computers are built!
A competition to improve reliable and efficient wireless power transmission could revolutionize space exploration, and even methods for providing power to disaster areas here on Earth
The Gravity Probe B mission took on one of science's most intriguing challenges- to confirm a space-time vortex around our planet.
Can you build a robot that can fetch your slippers from the living room? How about from behind a rock on Mars?!?!
Heard about the new blast protection system for buildings? The strength of this innovative design ... is in the wallpaper!
Calling all rocket enthusiasts ... your hobby just might launch new business opportunities ... literally!!
Nature has inspired a technology that's being called a revolutionary leap in energy storage.
If you're an inventor that likes a challenge ... NASA is looking for your revolutionary ideas!
Bifocals are so 18th century! The future of eyeglasses will be here in the blink of an eye.