Topic: NASA Science Mission Directorate

Private company to offer rides to moon by 2020

Golden Spike says it hopes to sell missions to the moon for over $1 billion.

How can humans touch Mars? Bring back a soil sample

A new report from NASA suggests that the agency prioritize bringing samples back from Mars to Earth for study. NASA will not make a specific plan for how they'll achieve this goal until after the president releases his 2014 budget in February.  

Why is Barack Obama's signature on Mars? (+video)

Curiosity drops a few rather big names in recent images taken with its MAHLI camera.

Is NASA focusing too much on Mars? (+video)

Even as the Curiosity Mars rover was still testing its equipment in preparation for its surface mission, NASA has unveiled plans for another unmanned mission to Mars. Is the agency playing favorites?

Next Mars mission to probe Red Planet's core

Scheduled to land on Mars sometime in 2016, NASA's next planetary mission will measure seismic waves and heat flows through the Red Planet's interior.

What will future Mars missions look like?

Following the successful landing of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, amid deep budget cuts the agency is drafting a 20-year plan for the Red Planet.  

NASA showered with praise over Curiosity Mars rover landing

NASA is exulting in its latest success: A one-ton robotic science lab safely deposited on the surface of Mars via never-before-attempted entry and descent maneuvers. 

Mars rover 'hardest NASA robotic mission ever attempted,' says NASA (+video)

At 10:30 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5, the one-ton, $2.5 billion Curiosity rover is scheduled to touch down on Mars, in what experts are calling a risky landing.

Why is NASA's latest Mars Rover biggest and best yet? (+video)

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover, expected to land on the Red planet in three weeks, is NASA's most advanced robotic mission yet.

Will NASA's Mars rover land safely? Glitch could delay news. (+video)

NASA's Curiosity rover is due to touch down on the Martian surface on August 5, but a malfunction in another NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars will mean we'll all have to wait longer to find out if the landing is successful.  

Is NASA giving up on Mars? (+video)

NASA's 2013 budget includes deep cuts to its planetary science mission, particularly its efforts to send spacecraft to Mars. Instead, the space agency will focus on human spaceflight and infrared astronomy. Is NASA now heading down the wrong path?

NASA milestone: MESSENGER spacecraft enters orbit around Mercury

Mercury had been excluded from the travels of instrument-loaded orbiters because of the difficulty of the mission – until now. On Thursday, the NASA MESSENGER started orbiting the planet.

Final spacewalk leaves like-new Hubble ready for its final bow

Astronauts made all the needed repairs, giving the telescope five to 10 more years of life.

Horizons
The Phoenix’s risky landing