NASA Breaking News

Stephen Colbert, host of the nightly 'The Colbert Report,' said in a new NASA public service announcement released today that he's always been a huge fan of space.

More than 6,300 individuals applied to become a NASA astronaut between Nov. 15, 2011 and Jan. 27, the second highest number of applications ever received by the agency.

NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland will host a special event on March 2 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of John Glenn's first orbital flight by an American.

NASA is seeking proposals for flight demonstrations of small satellite technologies with the goal of increasing the technical capabilities and range of uses for this emerging category of spacecraft.

NASA will host a media telecon at 2 p.m. CST today to discuss the status of the International Space Station and the progress toward an updated launch schedule, including international partner and commercial space vehicles.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will lead a discussion with business leaders and higher education professionals at a Listening and Action Session of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. PST on Friday, Feb. 3, in Seattle.

A camera aboard one of NASA's twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) lunar spacecraft has returned its first unique view of the far side of the moon.

Students participating in a U.S. Coast Guard Academy mentoring program will speak with Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank aboard the International Space Station at 11:15 EST on Thursday, Feb. 2.

NASA has received the National Research Council (NRC) report "NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities," which provides the agency with findings and recommendations on where best to invest in technologies needed to enable NASA's future missions in space.

NASA and the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering invite the public to a discussion with three astronauts from recent International Space Station expedition missions at 5:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 14, in the Hoff Theater inside the Adele H. Stamp Student Union.

NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has captured the best and most complete glimpse yet of what lies beyond the solar system.

Shannon Lucid, a member of NASA's first astronaut class to include women, has retired after more than three decades of service to the agency.

NASA has released a new educational game with an air traffic control theme for Apple iPhone and iPad devices.

NASA has launched its first multi-player online game to test players' knowledge of the space program.

Fifth- through eighth-grade students at Asa Low Intermediate School in Mansfield, Texas, will speak with NASA’s Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineer Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station at 11:50 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Jerry Ross, the first person to launch into space seven times, has retired from NASA. In a career that spanned more than three decades, Ross spent almost 1,400 hours in space and conducted nine spacewalks to rank third on the list of most extravehicular activity time in space.

A new series of tests on the engine that will help carry humans to deep space will begin next week at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. The tests on the J-2X engine bring NASA one step closer to the first human-rated liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine to be developed in 40 years.

NASA has exercised two six-month options to the agency's Safety and Mission Assurance Support Services Contract with Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) of San Diego for the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The options are worth $32.9 million.

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star.

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will visit Aurora Flight Sciences in Manassas, Va., on Jan. 27 to highlight how government can partner with small business to help create the jobs of the future through investment in science and technology.