Welcome to the Mission Support Directorate (MSD)

David Mitchell, the Associate Administrator for MSD.    Have you ever wondered how NASA manages to achieve all the incredible missions it does, like probing the Sun and studying the history of our Universe? We do it through teamwork, one of our core values. And an essential part of NASA’s team is what we call Mission […]

Sixty Years in Canberra: NASA’s Deep Space Network

Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43), a 230-foot-wide (70-meter-wide) radio antenna at NASA’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia, is seen in this March 4, 2020, image. DSS-43 was more than six times as sensitive as the original antenna at the Canberra complex, so it could communicate with spacecraft at greater distances from Earth. In […]

Findings from the Field: A Research Symposium for Student Scientists

Within the scientific community, peer review has become the process norm for which an author’s research or ideas undergo careful examination by other experts in their field. It encourages each scientist to meet the high standards that they themselves, as writers and reviewers, have aided in setting. It has become essential to the academic writing […]

NASA’s First Flight With Crew Important Step on Long-term Return to the Moon, Missions to Mars

The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under Artemis. Astronauts on their first flight aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft will confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space.  Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon […]

NASA’s Deep Space Network Starts New Dish, Marks 60 Years in Australia

Canberra joined the global network in 1965 and operates four radio antennas. Now, preparations have begun on its fifth as NASA works to increase the network’s capacity. NASA’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia celebrated its 60th anniversary on March 19 while also breaking ground on a new radio antenna. The pair of achievements […]

Style Guidelines for ‘The Earth Observer’ Newsletter 

IntroductionThe Earth Observer Editorial ProcessTypes of Articles in The Earth ObserverGeneral article format— Announcement article— Feature article— Hybrid article— In Memoriam article— Kudos article— Summary articleGuidelines for Preparing Articles for The Earth Observer— Writing for the web— Catchy headline— Naming files— Use visuals to draw the reader in— Search engine optimization—— Headline and subheads—— Links—— […]

NASA Astronaut to Answer Questions from Students in Florida

Students from Dade City, Florida, will have the chance to connect with NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers as she answers prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related questions from aboard the International Space Station. Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 11, on NASA+ and learn how to watch NASA content on […]

Eclipses, Science, NASA Firsts: Heliophysics Big Year Highlights 

One year ago today, a total solar eclipse swept across the United States. The event was a cornerstone moment in the Heliophysics Big Year, a global celebration of the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. From October 2023 to December 2024 — a period encompassing two solar eclipses across the U.S., two […]

Meet Alex Olley: Air Force Veteran Powering the Space Station 

As an Air Force veteran from Spartanburg, South Carolina, Alex Olley now serves as a contract specialist in the International Space Station Procurement Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.   Olley joined NASA as a Pathways intern in January 2023 to turn his lifelong goal into a reality—bringing his unique experience in the defense […]

NASA to Kick Off 31st Annual Rover Competition

NASA’s annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge returns Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, with student teams competing at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge course near the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Media are invited to watch as hundreds of students from around the world attempt to navigate a […]