Browse Archive

  • The X-15 aircraft.

    This Month in Exploration - September

    09.04.09 - Fifty years ago the first powered X-15 flight occurred in Edwards, California. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • The Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk.

    This Month in Exploration - August

    08.03.09 - One hundred years ago the Army bought its first airplane from the Wright brothers. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Buzz Aldrin and the U.S. flag on the surface of the moon.

    This Month in Exploration - July

    07.09.09 - Forty years ago humans set foot on the moon for the first time during the Apollo 11 mission. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • The Starshine 3 satellite

    This Month in Exploration - June

    06.09.09 - Ten years ago space shuttle Discovery astronauts released a spherical satellite studded with 878 tiny mirrors. Find out what else happened this month in exploration history.

  • Apollo 10 astronauts John Young and Tom Stafford

    This Month in Exploration - May

    05.06.09 - Forty years ago Apollo 10 launched from Kennedy Space Center on a test mission. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • NASA's Mercury 7 Astronauts

    This Month in Exploration - April

    04.01.09 - Fifty years ago the first American astronauts were selected for Project Mercury. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Astronaut Russell Schweickart during the Apollo 9 mission

    This Month in Exploration - March

    03.05.09 - Forty years ago, the first docking of two manned American spacecraft occurred during the Apollo 9 mission. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • untethered astronaut on EVA

    This Month in Exploration - February

    02.02.09 - Twenty-five years ago American astronauts performed the first untethered excursions. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Stardust capsule reentry

    This Month in Exploration - January

    01.09.09 - Five years ago NASA's Stardust spacecraft navigated through a cloud of ice and dust to return images of comet Wild 2. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Apollo 8 spacecraft

    This Month in Exploration - December

    12.03.08 - Forty years ago the crew of Apollo 8 transmitted the first image of Earth from space. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • X28 solar flare

    This Month in Exploration - November

    11.03.08 - Five years ago scientists observed the largest solar flare in recorded history. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • NASA's 50th Anniversary logo

    This Month in Exploration - October

    10.06.08 - Fifty years ago, NASA officially opened for business with a staff of 8,240 and a $340 million budget. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS)

    This Month in Exploration - September

    08.28.08 - Fifteen years ago, the space shuttle Discovery crew deployed the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite, the first high-speed, all-digital communications satellite. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Dr. Thomas Keith Glennan

    This Month in Exploration - August

    08.01.08 - Fifty years ago, Dr. Thomas Keith Glennan was sworn in as the first NASA Administrator. Dr. Hugh Dryden was appointed as his deputy administrator. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower

    This Month in Exploration - July

    07.01.08 - Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which instituted NASA. Find out what else happened this month in exploration history.

  • Astronaut Sally Ride in Space Shuttle Challenger's cabin during STS-7.

    This Month in Exploration - June

    06.02.08 - Twenty years after cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • 1908 flyer

    This Month in Exploration - May

    05.05.08 - One hundred years ago, Charles Furnas became the first airplane passenger. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • spacewalking astronaut

    This Month in Exploration - April

    04.01.08 - Twenty-five years ago, Space Shuttle Challenger embarked on its maiden voyage. During the mission, two astronauts performed the first spacewalk of the shuttle program. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Vanguard I

    This Month in Exploration - March

    03.03.08 - Fifty years ago, the Naval Research Laboratory launched Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.

  • Bell X-1A Aircraft

    This Month in Exploration - February

    02.01.08 - Fifty-five years ago, the Bell X-1A rocketplane made its first powered flight. Read more historical facts in This Month in Exploration.