Ames in the News

Armageddon from Planet Nibiru in 2012? Not So Fast (http://dsc.discovery.com)→

Life on Earth's Final Frontier (http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com)→

Computer Simulations Reveal Exotic Weather on Distant Worlds (http://uanews.org)→

Goldmine bug DNA may be key to alien life (environment.newscientist.com)→

Hangar One preservationists get a boost (www.mercurynews.com)→

The tale of a curiously extreme microbe (www.sfgate.com)→

Read about NASA Ames in other news stories

Ames Astrogram

The NASA Ames Employee Newsletter

Ames hosts Round Table with four former Ames center directors
› View the September issue of the Astrogram
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NASA's 50 Years

Image of NASA's 50th anniversary.

Take an interactive tour of NASA's first five decades of exploration, featuring virtual pavilions, clickable models and exhibits, video galleries, astronauts, presidents, and a robot guide named Automa.

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Featured Stories

    NASA Reinstalls Main Mirror in SOFIA Airborne Observatory

    Image of SOFIA mirror reinstall Photo Credit: NASA / Carla Thomas

    MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – Engineers and technicians from NASA, the German Space Agency and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut recently reinstalled the German-built primary mirror assembly into NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

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    Apollo Heat Shield Uncrated After 35 Years, Helps New Crew Vehicle Design

    Ethiraj Venkatapathy of NASA Ames, Betsy Pugel of NASA Goddard and Hanna Szczepanowska of the National Air and Space Museum Conservator, examine the 1966 Apollo test vehicle heat shield. Photo Credit: Smithsonian Museum / Eric Long

    NASA scientists developing the next generation of exploration vehicles and heat shields for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle experienced "Christmas in July" when they uncrated the heat shields used on the Apollo missions some 35 years ago. These shields now are being analyzed to help with the development and engineering process.

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    European Space Agency's "Jules Verne" Spacecraft

    Image of Jules Verne Automated Transfer vehicle (ATV) re-entry over the Pacific Ocean Photo Credit: NASA / ESA / Jesse Carpenter / Bill Moede

    The breakup and fragmentation of the European Space Agency's Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle was captured in dramatic fashion by scientists aboard NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory and a Gulfstream V aircraft as it re-entered the atmosphere on the morning of Sept. 29, 2008 over the South Pacific. NASA Ames Research Center and the European Space Agency agreed to collaborate on this airborne observation campaign to learn more about how meteors are similar to spacecraft re-entries. NASA made the decision to use the DC-8 airborne laboratory and a Gulfstream V aircraft based on requirements.

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    Watch video of the ATV re-entry.

    Sally Ride Festival

    Image of Sally Ride Science Festival participant working at computer. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart

    Sally Ride Science Festival participants virtually navigate Earth during one of 23 workshops designed to inspire young girls to continue their love of science and technology into adulthood. As part of NASA's commitment to the next generation of explorers, NASA Ames collaborated with Sally Ride Science to sponsor and host the Sally Ride Science Festival at the NASA Research Park, Sept. 27, 2008.

News and Features

  • Image of SOFIA mirror being loaded onto a plane.

    NASA Reinstalls Main Mirror in SOFIA Airborne Observatory

    10.15.08 - MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – Engineers and technicians from NASA, the German Space Agency and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut recently reinstalled the German-built primary mirror assembly into NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

  • Ethiraj Venkatapathy of NASA Ames, Betsy Pugel of NASA Goddard and Hanna Szczepanowska of the National Air and Space Museum Conservator, examine the 1966 Apollo test vehicle heat shield. Credit: NASA GSFC/Debbie McCallum

    Apollo Heat Shield Helps New Crew Vehicle Design

    10.07.08 - NASA scientists developing the next generation of exploration vehicles and heat shields for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle experienced "Christmas in July" when they uncrated the heat shields used on the Apollo missions some 35 years ago.

  • Image of sun rising over another planet

    NASA Selects Science Teams for Astrobiology Institute

    10.02.08 - MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA has awarded five-year grants, averaging $7 million each, to 10 research teams from across the country to study the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.

  • MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – Three teams of NASA Ames computer programmers, heat shield engineers and Earth scientists were honored earlier this month by the Federal Laboratory Consortium Far West Region for developing innovative technologies and partnerships.

    NASA Ames Scores Three Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards

    09.26.08 - MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – Three teams of NASA Ames computer programmers, heat shield engineers and Earth scientists were honored earlier this month by the Federal Laboratory Consortium Far West Region for developing innovative technologies and partnerships.

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Ames Twitters

Let's Save Hangar One

Center Director

Ames Image of the Week

European Space Agency's ATV Spacecraft

Image of Jules Verne aircraft as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.
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SOFIA Mirror

The main mirror for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), NASA’s new airborne eye on the universe, was loaded onto a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2008 and flown to the NASA Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., where it will be installed in SOFIA. This summer, the glass mirror was given a shiny, aluminum coating in a stainless steel vacuum chamber at NASA Ames in preparation for installation in the airborne observatory. SOFIA is scheduled to begin observations in mid-2009.<br/><br/> Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center / Eric James
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Director's Round Table

As part of NASA’s 50th anniversary celebration, NASA Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden invited four former Ames directors to join him at a Directors’ Round Table discussion on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. A large number of employess turned out for the Round Table, which featured from left to right: Hans Mark, who served as Ames director from 1969 to 1977 and later served as Deputy Administrator of NASA and Secretary of the Air Force; Sy Syvertson, who was named Ames director in 1977; Dale Compton who was named Ames director in 1989 and Scott Hubbard, who served as Ames director from 2002 to 2006 and current Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden.
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Visiting Ames