Emerging Tech

Next-Gen Weather Satellite Goes Online; NASA Orders Two More for $460M

The first satellite in the new Joint Polar Satellite System passed all its tests and is fully operational.

Emerging Tech

NOAA’s Newest Weather Satellite Isn’t Working Right

The satellite's “premiere” instrument gets too hot at night and engineers are struggling to find out why.

Digital Government

NASA wants predictive analytics for drone-crash casualties

The agency is asking for risk management and decision-making tools that can help it accurately estimate the deaths and injuries caused by a drone that crashes into a populated area.

Emerging Tech

The Mystery of the ‘SpaceBees’ Just Got Even Weirder

As the government investigates an unauthorized satellite launch, amateur trackers are watching the skies for clues.

Policy

Congress Is Quietly Nudging NASA to Look for Aliens

The space agency hasn't funded the search for extraterrestrial intelligence for 25 years. Could that soon change?

Emerging Tech

Are We There Yet?

How scientists and engineers handle a spacecraft’s months-long journey to Mars.

Emerging Tech

SpaceX Is Charging NASA More Money To Deliver Cargo to the ISS

Launching supplies into space is expensive.

Digital Government

NASA Finally Gets a New Leader

Nearly 15 months after President Trump was sworn in, the space agency has a permanent administrator.

Emerging Tech

SpaceX’s Rocket Videos Are Technically Against the Law. The U.S. Government Just Noticed.

There are regulations for videos shot from space.

Emerging Tech

Check Out The Crazy New Tech NASA Is Investing In

Robots that fly, swarm and support life could help us explore the cosmos.

Emerging Tech

What Happens When a Space Station Falls Out of the Sky

“Have you ever seen Gravity?”

Digital Government

Why Is NASA's Space Telescope Running a Year Behind?

The James Webb will launch in 2020 instead of next year—and it will probably need more money from Congress to do it.

Digital Government

NASA Figures Out a New Way to Bring Satellite Data Back Down To Earth

Communicating with satellites is trickier than you might think.

Digital Government

Who's Running NASA?

An interim administrator has been overseeing the space agency for more than 13 months—and now he’s leaving, too.

Emerging Tech

How Well Does Trump Understand NASA?

As he praised the work of SpaceX, the president seemed to undermine the efforts of his own space agency.