In August 1960, NASA launched its first communications satellite, Echo 1. Fifty years later, NASA has achieved another first by placing the ARTEMIS-P1 spacecraft into a unique orbit behind the moon, ...

James Van Allen discovered the two Earth-circling radiation belts that bear his name in 1958. The discovery, based on data from Explorer 1 (the first U.S. satellite), Explorer 3, and Pioneer 3, was ...

In the past, I’ve railed about the inconsistency in lunar phase nomenclature. Why do people call a seven-day-old Moon “First Quarter” and a 14- to 15-day-old Moon “Full”? If we label the evening ...

What is the moon phase today?Today, Oct. 23, 2025, the moon is 2 days old and is in the Waxing Crescent phase of its lunar cycle. It is 4% illuminated.October 2025 moon phases and datesMoon ...

A way station and staging area for human missions to Mars and other deep space destinations could be positioned at an Earth-Moon libration point. This artwork shows a staging node at L-1. Recent ...

A number of people who've seen NASA's annual lunar phase and libration videos have asked what the other side of the Moon looks like, the side that can't be seen from the Earth. This video answers that ...

NASA is taking a close look at new concepts to send crews on deep space expeditions near the moon, as a promising next major "stepping stone" for human spaceflight. The goal of the appraisal is to ...

Lunar laser ranging (LLR) remains one of the most incisive techniques for probing both the intricacies of the Earth–Moon system and the fundamental aspects of gravitational physics. By timing laser ...