Space exploration has challenged, inspired, and improved us for more than half a century. Today, the Coalition for Space Exploration, in partnership with the recently-formed NASA Visitor Centers Consortium announced an expansion of the Coalition’s “Why Space Matters to the Future” video contest that encourages U.S. residents to visualize what life will be like in…

NASA is expanding its reach to the nation’s growing Spanish-speaking population by holding its first-ever Google+ Hangout en Espanol from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., EDT, March 28. As part of Science4Girls, a NASA initiative to partner with libraries during National Women’s History Month, participants will be able to learn more about the life and career…

A new agreement made between the United States and Australia represents the first in what U.S. Strategic Commandís commander hopes will be many that promote transparency in the space domain. Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler signed the agreement on behalf of the United States, short-cutting the process for the Australian government to request data…

NASA and ATK successfully completed the first test for NASA’s Space Launch System booster program March 28 at ATK’s Promontory, Utah, test facility. This demonstration was a key avionics and controls test designated Flight Control Test 1 and included a fully integrated flight heritage thrust vector control system with the new SLS booster avionics subsystem….

Data from NASA’s Cassini mission reveal Saturn’s moon Phoebe has more planet-like qualities than previously thought. Scientists had their first close-up look at Phoebe when Cassini began exploring the Saturn system in 2004. Using data from multiple spacecraft instruments and a computer model of the moon’s chemistry, geophysics and geology, scientists found Phoebe was a…

NASA is accepting proposals until June 29 for the mini-grants component of the agency’s 2012 Summer of Innovation project. Proposals may be submitted through the National Space Grant Foundation for NASA-themed content in a variety of programs geared toward middle school students. The foundation is administering the grant program for NASA. Mini-grants are designed to…

Boeing recently demonstrated the dual-role propulsion features and performance of the Orbital Maneuvering Attitude Control engine on the service module for the company’s Crew Space Transportation-100 spacecraft. The tests were conducted at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility, N.M., as part of the second phase of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development program. “Boeing’s unique service-module propulsion system…

NASA has selected United Launch Services LLC of Englewood, Colo., to launch the Soil Moisture Active Passive, Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and Joint Polar Satellite System-1 spacecraft. The spacecraft will launch in October 2014, July 2014 and November 2016, respectively, aboard Delta II rockets from Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The total…

ATK technologies and capabilities played mission-critical roles throughout the entire journey of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory “Curiosity” rover, which successfully landed Aug. 5 inside Mars’ Gale Crater. As it starts its two-year mission, Curiosity will gather data to help assess whether Mars ever had an environment capable of supporting microbial life. ATK contributed technical and…