We're NASA's center in Silicon Valley.
- Tweets13.1K
- Following109
- Followers503K
- Likes8.7K
ALT An artist’s illustration shows an astronaut conducting an extravehicular activity on the lunar surface. In the background, a second astronaut collects lunar samples. Small craters are visible around the surface. A habitat is visible on the righthand side with Earth rising above. Commissioned by NASA in the late ‘80s. Artist: Garret Moore. Credit: NASA
ALT An artist’s illustration from 1986 shows astronauts working on the Moon. On the lefthand side, a rover with six wheels is visible. A communications satellite sits atop. In the left corner, Earth is visible. Two astronauts stand beside the rover to the right. In the far background, elements of lunar habitats can be seen. Artist: Dennis M. Davidson. Credit: NASA
ALT An artist’s illustration from 1969 shows two lunar habitats. One is a raised vertical structure, slightly behind another dome structure. The habitats appear connected by a tubing ventilation system. Astronauts are walking outside the habitats in spacesuits. Artist: Roy G. Scarfo. Credit: NASA
ALT An artist’s illustration commissioned by Ames Research Center in 1978. On the lefthand side, an astronaut in a spacesuit stands with an arm slightly raised. To the right, an elevated habitat is visible. Stars can be seen in the background, with Earth visible. Artist: Rick Guidice. Credit: NASA
ALT This black and white image was taken in 1962, showing a steerable parachute in the Ames 40-by-80 foot wind tunnel. The parachute is mounted to a control head and projects outward to the left. This was an early design of an Apollo parachute tested at Ames, ultimately shaping the development of the parachutes used during Apollo missions. Credit: NASA
ALT A bright orange parachute for the Orion spacecraft is tested inside the 80-by-120 foot wind tunnel at NASA Ames. Credit: NASA/Eric James
ALT Astronaut Douglas Wheelock pilots the M-Cab with the lunar lander configuration of the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) in N243. As part of the agency’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, lunar lander simulations will be integrated into the VMS. These simulations will help develop the manual control system for crewed lunar landers during the approach and landing phases of the Artemis IV mission and beyond. Credit: NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete
ALT Astronaut Douglas Wheelock “hearts” Earth in the background of the M-Cab with the lunar lander configuration of the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) in N243. As part of the agency’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, lunar lander simulations will be integrated into the VMS. These simulations will help develop the manual control system for crewed lunar landers during the approach and landing phases of the Artemis IV mission and beyond. Credit: NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete
ALT Astronaut Douglas Wheelock pilots the M-Cab with the lunar lander configuration of the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) in N243. As part of the agency’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, lunar lander simulations will be integrated into the VMS. These simulations will help develop the manual control system for crewed lunar landers during the approach and landing phases of the Artemis IV mission and beyond. Credit: NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete
ALT Astronaut Douglas Wheelock, left, and Haroon Khan pilot the M-Cab with the lunar lander configuration of the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) in N243. As part of the agency’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, lunar lander simulations will be integrated into the VMS. These simulations will help develop the manual control system for crewed lunar landers during the approach and landing phases of the Artemis IV mission and beyond. Credit: NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete
ALT Against a black background, a ghostly, blue silhouette takes shape amongst white, yellow, blue, and orange twinkling stars. The glowing apparition comes to a point in the top right of the frame, and rounded recesses just below resemble a brow, eyes, and an open mouth. The blue phantom emits a subtle red glow. Credit: NASA/ESA, and STScI/Acknowledgment: H. Arab (University of Strasbourg)
ALT The image is dominated by a hazy nebula in space. The center of the nebula glows a whitish blue, which grades concentrically to reddish brown at its edges before fading to black. A bright, young star near the center of the image emits four thin beams of light in a diagonal cross shape. This star sits on the border of a black, keyhole-shaped void in the center of the frame. In the background of the image, three red-and-yellow pinpoints of light glow from the darkness. Two of these spots resemble a pair of eyes. Credit: NASA/ESA/ESO/K. Noll
ALT A full moon hangs against the black of space in this image taken from the International Space Station in October 2023. The Moon shines its deep silver color to the right of the image, while pale white clouds pepper the blue glow of Earth to the left. Credit: NASA
ALT A detailed view of the Moon’s heavily cratered gray surface fills the left side of the image. In the distance on the right, a thin crescent Earth appears illuminated against a black sky, with the blue and white colors of the planet visible along the bright edge. Credit: NASA
ALT The shimmering colors visible in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image show off the remarkable complexity of the Twin Jet Nebula. Lobes of material, in teal, orange and blue hues, stretch outward like elongated orbs from a central star system that shines bright white. Streams of gas jet outward from the center. Stars are visible in the background, dotting the black of space in yellow and white. Credit: NASA/ESA/Judy Schmidt
ALT Two photos side-by-side showing the Artemis I Orion heat shield on the left and the Artemis II Orion heat shield on the right. Both heat shields are seen on stands and rotated for inspection. Credit: NASA
ALT NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this natural color view of Saturn almost a month after the planet's August 2009 equinox. The shadow cast on the planet by the rings remains narrow. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
ALT Saturn's rings obscure part of Titan's colorful visage in this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The south polar vortex that first appeared in Titan's atmosphere in 2012 is visible at the bottom of this view. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
ALT Saturn's largest and second largest moons, Titan and Rhea, appear to be stacked on top of each other in this true-color scene from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The north polar hood can be seen on Titan appearing as a detached layer at the top of the moon on the top right. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing side of Rhea (949 miles or 1528 kilometers across). North on Rhea is up and rotated 35 degrees to the right. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural-color view. The images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 16, 2011, at a distance of approximately 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from Rhea and 1.5 million miles (2.5 million kilometers) from Titan. Image scale is 7 miles (11 kilometers) per pixel on Rhea and 9 miles (15 kilometers) on Titan. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
ALT A blue hue, present in the northern hemisphere of Saturn is seen here by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The changing blue hue marks winter at Saturn and is likely due to reduction of ultraviolet sunlight and the haze it produces, making the atmosphere clearer and increasing the opportunity for Rayleigh scattering (scattering by molecules and smaller particles) and methane absorption. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 44 degrees below the ring plane. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 29, 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
ALT KREPE-3 capsule floats inside the Northrup Grumman Cygnus XL 24 cargo spacecraft. Inside the capsule is a 3-D printed heat shield designed by researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The capsule is one of 10 that will be packed inside Cygnus XL for unberthing and release from the International Space Station.Credit: NASA/Anil Menon