@NASAhistory

This is the NASA History Office's official X account. We're happy that you share our passion for aerospace history.

 Washington, DC
nasa.gov/history
Joined June 2010
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As the sun sets on NASA's Swift mission, we celebrate more than 21 years of discoveries. Designed to catch gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the universe's most powerful explosions, Swift revolutionized our understanding of these high-energy events and showed how they can illuminate everything from the births of black holes to the history of the early universe. But Swift's legacy extends far beyond gamma-ray bursts. Its rapid-response capabilities turned it one of astronomy's first responders, alerting observatories around the world to fleeting cosmic events and helping usher in the era of multimessenger astronomy. The mission leaves behind a remarkable scientific legacy and a wealth of data that will continue to enable discoveries for years to come.
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Veteran astronauts Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton completed the fifth and final glide test aboard Enterprise OTD in 1977. The Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) took place between February and October 1977 to test the Shuttle's flight characteristics prior to its first spaceflight in 1981.
View of the Enterprise orbiter as it glides through the sky over the California desert on ALT free flight 5.

ALT View of the Enterprise orbiter as it glides through the sky over the California desert on ALT free flight 5.

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Fun fact: After their flight, Haise and Fullerton met 28-year-old King Charles (then known as Prince Charles)!
King Charles shakes hands with astronaut L. Gordon Fullerton after the 5th free flight of Enterprise in October 1977. Fred Haise is in the foreground with his back to the camera. Behind Charles is Dryden Center Director David R. Scott, and on the right in the background is astronaut John Young. Credit: NASA

ALT King Charles shakes hands with astronaut L. Gordon Fullerton after the 5th free flight of Enterprise in October 1977. Fred Haise is in the foreground with his back to the camera. Behind Charles is Dryden Center Director David R. Scott, and on the right in the background is astronaut John Young. Credit: NASA

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80 years ago today, the first images of Earth from space were taken. A 35mm camera mounted on a captured V-2 rocket launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This photo is a frame from the rocket's journey to 65 miles (105 km) above Earth's surface.
A grainy black and white photo of a small portion of Earth seen with the blackness of space, taken on October 24, 1946. White clouds are visible over the gray of the Earth's surface.

ALT A grainy black and white photo of a small portion of Earth seen with the blackness of space, taken on October 24, 1946. White clouds are visible over the gray of the Earth's surface.

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Mars Odyssey completes a quarter century of studying Mars! Arriving in orbit around Mars on Oct. 23, 2001 (EDT), Odyssey went on to create the first global map of the chemical elements and minerals that make up the Martian surface. It is the longest continually active mission in orbit around a planet other than Earth! These four beautiful images, showing features on Mars' surface, were taken with Odyssey's THEMIS instrument. Color is used to convey the nature of the surface materials. Blue tints represent finer-grained silt, sand, or dust, where redder tints indicate harder sediments and rocky outcrops.
Sand dunes shaped like blue-black flames lie next to a central hill within an unnamed, 120-kilometer (75-mile) crater in eastern Arabia Terra. False colors depict the nature of the ground surface: Areas in bluish tints have more fine sand at the surface, while redder tints indicate harder sediments and outcrops of rock. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

ALT Sand dunes shaped like blue-black flames lie next to a central hill within an unnamed, 120-kilometer (75-mile) crater in eastern Arabia Terra. False colors depict the nature of the ground surface: Areas in bluish tints have more fine sand at the surface, while redder tints indicate harder sediments and outcrops of rock. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

Western Arabia Terra: This false-color image was made by combining photos taken at infrared wavelengths during local daytime and late at night. The camera was THEMIS, the Thermal Emission Imaging System, aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Broadly speaking, the colors indicate surface materials, with redder colors showing where rocks and hardened sediments are commonest. Tints of greens and blues map the places where finer-grain materials like sand, silt, and dust cover the surface. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

ALT Western Arabia Terra: This false-color image was made by combining photos taken at infrared wavelengths during local daytime and late at night. The camera was THEMIS, the Thermal Emission Imaging System, aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Broadly speaking, the colors indicate surface materials, with redder colors showing where rocks and hardened sediments are commonest. Tints of greens and blues map the places where finer-grain materials like sand, silt, and dust cover the surface. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

Rabe Crater lies among hundreds of thousands of other impact craters in the rough-hewn southern highlands of Mars. Spanning 108 kilometers (67 miles), Rabe is halfway between the martian equator and the south pole, and west of the giant impact basin Hellas. Two features help set Rabe Crater (and several more in its vicinity) apart from most other craters on Mars. Rabe has a flat floor with a pit sunk into it, plus a large field of dunes. A pair of visible-wavelength images together with numerous infrared ones created this false-color THEMIS view that captures portions of both the pit and the dune field. The colors portray the overnight surface temperatures: bluer colors indicate cold places, redder tints warm ones. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

ALT Rabe Crater lies among hundreds of thousands of other impact craters in the rough-hewn southern highlands of Mars. Spanning 108 kilometers (67 miles), Rabe is halfway between the martian equator and the south pole, and west of the giant impact basin Hellas. Two features help set Rabe Crater (and several more in its vicinity) apart from most other craters on Mars. Rabe has a flat floor with a pit sunk into it, plus a large field of dunes. A pair of visible-wavelength images together with numerous infrared ones created this false-color THEMIS view that captures portions of both the pit and the dune field. The colors portray the overnight surface temperatures: bluer colors indicate cold places, redder tints warm ones. Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

The highlands of Terra Sirenum. The infrared imaging gives scientists clues about the nature of the surface. THEMIS photographs patches of ground twice per Martian day—once in late afternoon and then again just before night ends—two times when contrasts in surface temperature are strongest. In this false-color mosaic, THEMIS researchers have colored in blues and greens the areas that are cold at night, while nighttime-warm regions appear in reds, oranges, and yellows. The tints distinguish areas covered in dust and sand (cool colors) from exposures of bare rocks and deposits free of fine-grain material (warm colors). Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

ALT The highlands of Terra Sirenum. The infrared imaging gives scientists clues about the nature of the surface. THEMIS photographs patches of ground twice per Martian day—once in late afternoon and then again just before night ends—two times when contrasts in surface temperature are strongest. In this false-color mosaic, THEMIS researchers have colored in blues and greens the areas that are cold at night, while nighttime-warm regions appear in reds, oranges, and yellows. The tints distinguish areas covered in dust and sand (cool colors) from exposures of bare rocks and deposits free of fine-grain material (warm colors). Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

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Celebrate Odyssey's long-lived mission with us! 🥳 science.nasa.gov/mission/ody…

Odyssey Celebrates 25 Years - NASA Science

The Mars Odyssey mission was the first to provide global maps showing the elemental composition of the Martian surface and how much water was present within

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Happy 65th birthday, NASA’s Stennis Space Center! 🎉 On Oct 25, 1961, NASA announced plans to build a rocket test site in south Mississippi to support the Apollo Program. In the decades since, work at the site has helped power every major chapter of America’s space program.
A Saturn V stage is lifted onto the A-2 Test Stand at NASA Stennis (1965).

ALT A Saturn V stage is lifted onto the A-2 Test Stand at NASA Stennis (1965).

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65 years later, Stennis continues to shape America’s future in space by testing the rocket engines and stages that will once again land American astronauts on the Moon and build a sustainable Moon Base near the lunar South Pole. Celebrate with us! 🎂 go.nasa.gov/4ywTpAU
In this scene at sunset in January 2020, crews at Stennis Space Center lift and install the first core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket onto the B-2 Test Stand.

ALT In this scene at sunset in January 2020, crews at Stennis Space Center lift and install the first core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket onto the B-2 Test Stand.

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Today we remember astronaut Ronald E. McNair, born OTD in 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina. McNair, a physicist, jazz saxophonist, and karate black belt, was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate in 1978 and flew his first shuttle mission in 1984. He tragically perished in the Challenger accident on Jan. 28. 1986, yet his legacy of excellence, curiosity, and perseverance lives on.
Official astronaut portrait of Ronald E. McNair taken in 1978. A model of a space shuttle appears behind his shoulder.

ALT Official astronaut portrait of Ronald E. McNair taken in 1978. A model of a space shuttle appears behind his shoulder.

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This week in 1968, the Apollo 7 crew was thoroughly testing the redesigned Apollo Command and Service Module, including the critical Service Propulsion System engine. The mission's success proved the spacecraft was ready for the next giant leap, clearing the way for Apollo 8 to become the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon.
A heavy beard covers the face of astronaut Walter M. Schirra Jr., Apollo 7 commander, as he looks out the rendezvous window in front of the commander's station on the ninth day of the Apollo 7 mission. (October 20, 1968)

ALT A heavy beard covers the face of astronaut Walter M. Schirra Jr., Apollo 7 commander, as he looks out the rendezvous window in front of the commander's station on the ninth day of the Apollo 7 mission. (October 20, 1968)

Astronaut Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 lunar module pilot, wears sunglasses in the brightly lit Apollo Command Module as he writes with a space pen on the ninth day of the Apollo 7 mission. (October 20, 1968)

ALT Astronaut Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 lunar module pilot, wears sunglasses in the brightly lit Apollo Command Module as he writes with a space pen on the ninth day of the Apollo 7 mission. (October 20, 1968)

Astronaut Donn F. Eisele, Apollo 7 command module pilot, smiles through a heavy growth of beard as he is photographed during a momentary pause on the ninth day of the Apollo 7 mission. (October 20, 1968)

ALT Astronaut Donn F. Eisele, Apollo 7 command module pilot, smiles through a heavy growth of beard as he is photographed during a momentary pause on the ninth day of the Apollo 7 mission. (October 20, 1968)

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Happy five years in space to NASA's Lucy spacecraft, the first mission that will explore the Trojan asteroids! 🥳 Launched five years ago today, Lucy has already flown by the asteroids Dinkinesh, Selam, and Donaldjohanson, and is due to encounter its first Trojan asteroid next August. The Trojan asteroids are thought to be remnants of the same material that formed the outer planets of our solar system, and may offer insights into how our solar system formed over four billion years ago.
In this night-time scene, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41. The launch occured in the early morning of Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

ALT In this night-time scene, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41. The launch occured in the early morning of Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft lifted off 29 years ago to begin its long voyage to Saturn. For 13 years, Cassini orbited Saturn, revealing unexpected features of the planet, its rings, and its icy moons, and expanding our understanding of the kinds of worlds where life might exist.
A dramatic view of Saturn and its rings as viewed by the Cassini spacecraft in October 2016.

ALT A dramatic view of Saturn and its rings as viewed by the Cassini spacecraft in October 2016.

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What Cassini taught us during its 20-year mission: go.nasa.gov/4zsEFmY

Why Cassini Mattered - NASA Science

Nine Ways Cassini-Huygens Mattered 1. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft and ESA’s Huygens probe expanded our understanding of the kinds of worlds where life might exist. With discoveries at Saturn’s moons...

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Snapshots of Saturn 🪐 OTD in 1997, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft launched to explore the wonders of Saturn. For more than a decade, Cassini studied the jewel of our Solar System, including its spectacular rings and icy moons. Take a look at some images captured along the way!
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 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

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 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

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 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

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 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

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When the Apollo 8 astronauts became the first to observe the Moon up close, NASA gathered insights from what they saw into a special publication. The Artemis II preliminary lunar science report is a continuation of this story of data and science made possible by NASA's missions to the Moon. 🔗 go.nasa.gov/4igLKBj
Cover of the "Analysis of Apollo 8 Photography and Visual Observations" special report published in 1969. It features the Earthrise image taken by the Apollo 8 crew.

ALT Cover of the "Analysis of Apollo 8 Photography and Visual Observations" special report published in 1969. It features the Earthrise image taken by the Apollo 8 crew.

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And if you're curious to go back to see the Apollo 8 report, you can check it out here: go.nasa.gov/47UKIow
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The first crewed Apollo mission lifts off! Wally Schirra, Walt Cunningham, and Donn Eisele became the first 3 astronauts to be launched on a Saturn rocket 58 years ago today. This 11-day mission in Earth orbit was an important test of the Apollo command and service module. Three months later, it would take NASA astronauts around the Moon.
Apollo 7 lifts off from Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 34 at 11:03 A.M., EDT on Oct 11, 1968. The astronauts aboard are Astronauts Walter M. Schirra,Jr. Commander; Donn F. Eisele, Command Module Pilot; and Walter Cunningham, Lunar Module Pilot.

ALT Apollo 7 lifts off from Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 34 at 11:03 A.M., EDT on Oct 11, 1968. The astronauts aboard are Astronauts Walter M. Schirra,Jr. Commander; Donn F. Eisele, Command Module Pilot; and Walter Cunningham, Lunar Module Pilot.

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“We had to find a way and we did. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers.” —Margaret Hamilton Rest in peace, Margaret. Your trailblazing work leading the development of the on-board flight software for the Apollo spacecraft will forever be remembered. 🫡
Margaret Hamilton poses in a command module mockup in 1969. Credit: MIT Photo Service

ALT Margaret Hamilton poses in a command module mockup in 1969. Credit: MIT Photo Service

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The first of 33 missions ✅ Space shuttle Atlantis completed its very first mission on Oct 7, 1985. Over its 25+ years of service, Atlantis launched interplanetary probes, flew the final servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope, helped build the International Space Station, and much, much more.
The wheels of the Space Shuttle Atlantis touch down on the dry lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base to mark successful completion of the STS 51-J mission.

ALT The wheels of the Space Shuttle Atlantis touch down on the dry lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base to mark successful completion of the STS 51-J mission.

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