From the voyages of spacecraft to the Moon and beyond, to the launches of satellites that help us navigate, communicate, and understand our planet and the universe, the use of liquid-fueled rockets has been key to humanity’s use and exploration of space. Today marks 100 years since the first successful test of this technology. On […]
Category: NASA History
From Cabbages to Countdowns: NASA Marks 100 Years of Modern Rocketry
Snow covered the ground that Tuesday morning 100 years ago, when a college professor and his wife took a morning drive to the family farm a few miles south in Auburn, Massachusetts. Along for the ride, the couple brought two work colleagues — and “Nell.” They may not have known it at the time, but […]
NASA’s Home for Experimental Flight Advances Aeronautics Mission
Nestled in the Mojave Desert, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, pushes the boundaries of flight to advance the agency’s aeronautics mission. This is where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier and engineers are now pioneering the future of high-speed, autonomous, and electrified aircraft. Armstrong contributes to NASA’s broader mission of innovation and […]
NASA Marshall Prepares for Demolition of Historic Test, Simulation Facilities
NASA is preparing for the demolition of three iconic structures at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Crews began demolition in mid-December at the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, a facility built in the late 1960s that once enabled NASA astronauts and researchers to experience near-weightlessness. The facility was also used to conduct underwater […]
First Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral
The Bumper V-2 launches from Cape Canaveral in this July 24, 1950, photo. In the 75 years since this milestone, this facility has seen thousands of rockets take to the skies, destined for Earth orbit, the Moon, planets, and even beyond. From Cape Canaveral and from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida nearby, astronauts launched […]
“Hubble at 35 Years” Symposium Explores Insights from Hubble’s Past
As Hubble marks three and a half decades of scientific breakthroughs and technical resilience, the “Hubble at 35 Years” symposium offers a platform to reflect on the mission’s historical, operational, and scientific legacy. Hubble’s trajectory—from early challenges to becoming a symbol of American scientific ingenuity—presents valuable lessons in innovation, collaboration, and crisis response. Bringing together […]
NASA History News and Notes – Summer 2025
In the summer 2025 issue of the NASA History Office’s News & Notes newsletter, examples of leadership and critical decision-making in NASA’s history form the unifying theme. Among the topics discussed are NASA’s Shuttle-Centaur program, assessing donations to the NASA Archives, how the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star catalyzed NASA’s exoplanet […]
Going Home: NASA Retires S-3B Viking to POW/MIA Museum
After supporting the center’s research missions for more than a decade, NASA’s S-3B Viking aircraft is moving on from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to begin a new and honorable assignment. The aircraft is heading to the National POW/MIA Memorial and Museum in Jacksonville, Florida, where it will be on display, honoring all Prisoners […]
NASA History News and Notes–Spring 2025
The NASA History Office brings you the new Spring 2025 issue of NASA History News & Notes reflecting on some of the transitional periods in NASA’s history, as well as the legacies of past programs. Topics include NASA’s 1967 class of astronauts, historic experiments in airborne astronomy, NASA’s aircraft consolidation efforts in the 1990s, lightning […]
Turning Vanes inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel
Men stand in front of turning vanes inside the Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in this February 1944 publicity photo. The photo was taken just weeks after the tunnel became operational. The AWT was the only wind tunnel capable of testing full-size aircraft engines in […]