Transformative Aeronautics
A NASA research program collaborates with universities to revolutionize the way we design, build, and operate aircraft. Angela Surgenor, dep...
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Small Steps, Giant Leaps
NASA’s technical workforce embodies the spirit of Neil Armstrong’s immortal words from the surface of the Moon, boldly pushing the envelope of human achievement and scientific understanding....
Small Steps, Giant Leaps Podcast Guide
Listen to Small Steps, Giant Leaps, a Science & Medicine podcast by Katie Konans. Stream 175 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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Calibrating Satellite Image Data
Before scientists can use those satellite imagery for research, the data must be carefully calibrated to ensure measurements are accurate an...
Space Nuclear Propulsion
Space nuclear power and propulsion engineering could play a key role in sending robots and humans to deep space, enabling faster and farther...
Test Like You Fly
The “test like you fly” approach is an engineering philosophy that means testing hardware, software, and flight operations as close to reali...
Soft Skills for Tough Missions
So-called “soft skills” like good teamwork and communication can become just as valuable as technical skills to advance exploration.
Tracking Launches: Views from a NASA Pilot
NASA pilots play a critical role in launch and recovery operations. Shannon Gregory, chief of flight operations at Kennedy Space Center, sha...
How NASA's Pandora Mission Unboxes Distant Worlds
Studying planets in other solar systems isn’t easy, especially when their host stars keep stealing the spotlight. NASA’s Pandora mission wil...
Choreographing Astronaut Recovery
For any crew returning to Earth from space, the journey home includes a carefully choreographed recovery effort to bring them safely back on...
Dragonfly: Mission to Titan
NASA's Dragonfly spacecraft, a rotorcraft the size of a small car, is set to explore Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Rich in organic compounds...
Designing the Roadmap to Mars
Nujoud Merancy, NASA's deputy associate administrator for the Strategy and Architecture Office, talks about how NASA is developing the roadm...
The Many Hats of NASA Engineer Jennifer Lu
From her experience working with the Commercial Crew Program, which sends astronauts to the International Space Station aboard commercial sp...
Bringing Back Supersonic Flight
Currently, flying faster than the speed of sound over land is prohibited for commercial flights because it creates disruptive sonic booms. N...
Sailing the Solar System
A solar sail uses light particles from the Sun to move through space without needing a single drop of fuel. NASA is demonstrating the lightw...
Simulating Moon and Mars Dust
Dr. Jennifer Edmunson explains what it takes to simulate Moon and Mars dust on Earth, and lessons learned from preparing to build habitats o...
NASA's Centennial Challenges Prize Program
There’s a program at NASA that taps into the power of the public to solve some of the toughest problems in space exploration. It’s called Ce...
6,000 Exoplanets and Counting
On September 17, 2025, NASA announced that the number of exoplanets, planets outside our solar system, tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. In...
NASA's Zero Gravity Research Facility
A steel vacuum chamber 50 stories deep at NASA’s Glenn Research Center lets researchers simulate near-weightlessness by letting test hardwar...
Turning Space Data Into Sound
From black holes to star clusters, scientists are turning space data into sound with a process called sonification. Dr. Kimberly Arcand, vis...
StarBurst: Gamma-ray Hunter
StarBurst, a satellite the size of a washing machine, aims to detect the initial blast of gamma-rays, the most powerful bursts of energy in...
Hubble: An Engineering Marvel
The Hubble Space Telescope has changed humanity’s understanding of the universe. Now in orbit for 35 years, it remains a remarkable feat of...