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Stay connected with NASA's human exploration activities in and beyond low Earth orbit.

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Why We Explore

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Why Do We Explore?

From the time of our birth, humans have felt a primordial urge to explore -- to blaze new trails, map new lands, and answer profound questions about ourselves and our universe.

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Library

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Speeches, Reports and Committees

Find reports, briefings and materials from Human Exploration and Operations committees, conferences and forums.

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Education and Outreach

NASA's Exploration Experience exhibit trailer

Informing and educating the public about NASA's plans for a new era in space exploration. Find educational materials, visit traveling exhibits, request a NASA speaker and more.

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About

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Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate

Leadership and management of NASA space operations related to human exploration in and beyond low Earth orbit.

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Top Featured Stories

Apollo 12: Surveyor 3 and Intrepid on lunar surface. Photo credit: NASA

Protecting and Preserving Lunar Heritage Sites

NASA's recommendations to space-faring commercial entities and nations, for spacecraft planning to visit U.S. lunar heritage sites.

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Astronaut Cady Coleman adjusts the fluid volume in the Interior Corner Flow 2 experiment, part of a suite of experiments called the Capillary Flow Experiments-2. (NASA)

Capillarity in Space -- Then and Now, 1962–2012

The International Space Station's studies on fluid physics in microgravity are leading to rapid advances, and on May 24, are part of a milestone.

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SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off.

SpaceX Launches Falcon 9/Dragon on Historic Mission

The SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying a Dragon capsule lifted off May 22, 2012, to begin a historic flight to the International Space Station.

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This artist's rendition shows the SpaceX Dragon upon approach to the International Space Station. (NASA)

What Went Up Can Now Come Down with SpaceX Flight

The SpaceX Dragon demo flight brings a new American transportation vehicle onto the scene for travel to and from the International Space Station.

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More Featured Stories

News Releases

  • NASA Offers Guidelines To Protect Historic Sites On The Moon

    05.24.12 - NASA and the X Prize Foundation of Playa Vista, Calif., announced Thursday the Google Lunar X Prize is recognizing guidelines established by NASA to protect lunar historic sites and preserve ongoing and future science on the moon.

  • NASA Administrator to Address Media after SpaceX Launch

    05.22.12 - NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will address media representatives at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:00 a.m. EDT following Tuesday's SpaceX NASA demonstration flight launch to the International Space Station.

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Exploration at NASA

    This is the beginning of a new era in space exploration where we will build the capabilities to send humans deeper into space than ever before. We will use the International Space Station as a test bed and stepping stone for the journey ahead. We are changing the way we do business, fostering a commercial industry that will safely service low Earth orbit so we can focus our energy and resources on sending astronauts to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. The road ahead is challenging but this approach and space exploration architecture puts us in a position to go where no human has gone before.

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