Latest Science Mission Directorate Stories

The following are statements from the associate administrators of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Science Mission Directorate and Space Technology Mission Directorate on the administration's budget request for the 2014 fiscal year. From Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier: "The mission to find, capture and redirect an asteroid robotically, and then visit it with astronauts to study it and return samples takes...

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following are statements from the associate administrators of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Science Mission Directorate and Space Technology Mission Directorate on the administration's budget request for the 2014 fiscal year. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) From Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier: "The mission to find,...

William Borucki, science principal investigator for NASA's Kepler mission at the agency's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in California, is the recipient of the 2013 Henry Draper Medal awarded by the National Academy of Sciences. Borucki is honored for his founding concept and visionary leadership during the development of Kepler, which uses transit photometry to determine the frequency and kinds of planets around other stars. "This is a commendable recognition for Bill Borucki...

Media representatives are invited to attend a ceremony to announce the renaming of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP). The event takes place Nov. 9 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 pm EST, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Building 200, 11101 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, Md. Along with the announcement of a new name and presentations highlighting the spacecraft's commissioning activities, there will be a tour of the RBSP mission operation facilities. The...

NASA NASA has a new online science resource for teachers and students to help bring Earth, the solar system, and the universe into their schools and homes. Called NASA Wavelength, the site features hundreds of resources organized by topic and audience level from elementary to college, and out-of-school programs that span the extent of NASA science. Educators at all levels can locate educational resources through information on educational standards, subjects and keywords and other...

Video: Digging Deep with NASA’s Next Mars Lander | Video: InSight Mission – Animation of Spacecraft April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA announced on Monday the selection of a new Discovery-class mission that will further NASA's exploration of our solar system. This will be the 12th in the Discovery-class mission series. Journalists from across the nation participated in a question and answer session, with many more listening in to the streaming audio,...

NASA has awarded the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena a new five-year contract to manage the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The contractor's primary mission is to support NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in carrying out specific objectives identified in the SMD Science Plan. The contract is for $8.5 billion. The contract extends the agreement between Caltech and NASA for management of JPL beyond its current expiration date of Sept. 30. The new contract runs...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has awarded the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena a new five-year contract to manage the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The contractor's primary mission is to support NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in carrying out specific objectives identified in the SMD Science Plan. The contract is for $8.5 billion. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The contract extends the...

GREENBELT, Md., July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Director Chris Scolese today announced he has named Dr. Colleen Hartman to the position of deputy director for science, operations and program performance at Goddard in Greenbelt, Md. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) For the last year, Hartman served as the assistant associate administrator in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. In...

Lee Rannals for RedOrbit.com NASA said it has received 400 mission concepts from scientists and engineers for a future Mars mission. Scientists and engineers submitted their ideas to the Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration Workshop in Houston, which was an event put together by NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Both individuals and teams submitted their visions to the NASA program for a new strategy to explore the Red Planet. The space agency is reformulating the Mars...