SPACE EXPLORATION | Expanding the boundaries of human understanding
Flash Video Player Loading Please Wait...
Photo Gallery
-
Nations in Space
The International Space Station is the largest cooperative scientific program in history, drawing on the resources and scientific expertise of 16 nations.
Mission Profiles
-
Ulysses
Launch date: October 6, 1990
A joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency, Ulysses was the first spacecraft sent out of the ecliptic -- the plane in which Earth and other planets orbit the sun -- to study the sun's north and south poles. The mission ended in 1995 but Ulysses still monitors the sun. Learn more at NASA's Web site.
-
Cassini-Huygens to Saturn
Launch date: October 15, 1997
A joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, Cassini arrived at Saturn in June 2004 carrying a record 12 instruments. The mission is a study of Saturn's rings, moons and magnetosphere. In January 2005, the Huygens probe, which was aboard Cassini en route to Saturn, reached the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Learn more at NASA's Web site.
-
Galaxy Evolution Explorer
Launch date: April 28, 2003
This mission uses ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the history of star formation 80 percent of the way back to the Big Bang. Partnering with NASA on the mission are the California Institute of Technology; the Orbital Sciences Corporation in Maryland; the University of California at Berkeley; Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea; Johns Hopkins University in Maryland; and Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille in France. Learn more at NASA's Web site.
-
CloudSat
Launch date: April 28, 2006
CloudSat will provide a never-before-seen three-dimensional perspective of Earth's clouds that will answer questions about how they form, evolve and affect our weather, climate and freshwater supply. CloudSat is an international and interagency mission whose partners include the Canadian Space Agency, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Department of Energy. Learn more at NASA's Web site.
-
Dawn
Launch date: September 27, 2007
Dawn, the first spacecraft to attempt orbit of two different bodies after leaving Earth, is destined for Vesta and Ceres, two of the largest asteroids in the solar system. Partners in Dawn's eight-year, 4.9 billion-kilometer journey are the University of California, Los Angeles; Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg, Germany; DLR Institute for Planetary Research, Berlin; Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome; and the Italian Space Agency. Learn more at NASA's Web site.