NASA Has Its Own Railroad
National Train Day is coming up this weekend, so we'll take a look at a railroad that doesn't get a lot of attention, the one NASA has used to move parts and supplies to and from Kennedy Space Center.
There’s A Big Metal Ball Just Hanging Out In Earth Orbit, And It’s Super Useful
Today in 1965 the launch of what is the oldest functioning object in Earth orbit, Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1. Though to say it's "functioning" might be overstating things.
For Self-Help Robots, Looks Matter
The University of Cambridge did a study about robotic wellbeing coaches. And it turns out that if we want robots to help us help ourselves… they need to be cute.
Ellen Ochoa Blazed Trails In Space (And Played The Flute Up There)
For National Hispanic Heritage Month, here's the story of the first Hispanic woman in space, Ellen Ochoa, talented and versatile even by astronaut standards.
NASA Likes To Say Good Morning To Its Astronauts With Music
If you're an astronaut, way up there in space, chances are you started the day with a song. Why? It's a NASA tradition.
After The Moon Landing Came The Astronaut Quarantine
Yes, they'd finished their moon landing, but they had to go into quarantine in case they'd picked up some "moon germs" that could lead to a plague on Earth. (Fortunately, they hadn't.)
Time To Upgrade The International Space Station’s Bathroom
Sometimes you go into space to land on the moon, and other times it’s for maintenance purposes. NASA is planning a mission to replace the toilet on the International Space Station.
Running The Mars Rover From Home Is The Coolest Remote Work Ever
Like people in other industries who have the means to do so, the scientists who operate the Curiosity Rover are working away from their office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California. Though technically when you run a craft that's on another planet, you're always working remotely.
The Mars Lander Can Give Itself A Helping Hand
NASA has fixed a problem with its Mars lander, essentially by telling the lander to use a robotic arm to help itself - or, depending on the headlines you read, to whack itself.
Of Chimps, By Chimps, For Chimps
Wikipedia's article on the Mercury-Atlas 5 mission is... just read on.