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I have sold items to coutries such as  Afghanistan * Albania * Algeria * American Samoa (US) * Andorra * Angola * Anguilla (GB) * Antigua and Barbuda * Argentina * Armenia * Aruba (NL) * Australia * Austria * Azerbaijan * Bahamas * Bahrain * Bangladesh * Barbados * Belarus * Belgium * Belize * Benin * Bermuda (GB) * Bhutan * Bolivia * Bonaire (NL)  * Bosnia and Herzegovina * Botswana * Bouvet Island (NO) * Brazil * British Indian Ocean Territory (GB) * British Virgin Islands (GB) * Brunei * Bulgaria * Burkina Faso * Burundi * Cambodia * Cameroon * Canada * Cape Verde * Cayman Islands (GB) * Central African Republic * Chad * Chile * China * Christmas Island (AU) * Cocos Islands (AU) * Colombia * Comoros * Congo * Democratic Republic of the Congo * Cook Islands (NZ) * Coral Sea Islands Territory (AU) * Costa Rica * Croatia * Cuba * Curaçao (NL)  * Cyprus * Czech Republic * Denmark * Djibouti * Dominica * Dominican Republic * East Timor * Ecuador * Egypt * El Salvador * Equatorial Guinea * Eritrea * Estonia * Ethiopia * Falkland Islands (GB) * Faroe Islands (DK) * Fiji Islands * Finland * France * French Guiana (FR) * French Polynesia (FR) * French Southern Lands (FR) * Gabon * Gambia * Georgia * Germany * Ghana * Gibraltar (GB) * Greece * Greenland (DK) * Grenada * Guadeloupe (FR) * Guam (US) * Guatemala * Guernsey (GB) * Guinea * Guinea-Bissau * Guyana * Haiti * Heard and McDonald Islands (AU) * Honduras * Hong Kong (CN) * Hungary * Iceland * India * Indonesia * Iran * Iraq * Ireland * Isle of Man (GB) * Israel * Italy * Ivory Coast * Jamaica * Jan Mayen (NO) * Japan * Jersey (GB) * Jordan * Kazakhstan * Kenya * Kiribati * Kosovo * Kuwait * Kyrgyzstan * Laos * Latvia * Lebanon * Lesotho * Liberia * Libya * Liechtenstein * Lithuania * Luxembourg * Macau (CN) * Macedonia * Madagascar * Malawi * Malaysia * Maldives * Mali * Malta * Marshall Islands * Martinique (FR) * Mauritania * Mauritius * Mayotte (FR) * Mexico * Micronesia * Moldova * Monaco * Mongolia * Montenegro * Montserrat (GB) * Morocco * Mozambique * Myanmar * Namibia * Nauru * Navassa (US) * Nepal * Netherlands * New Caledonia (FR) * New Zealand * Nicaragua * Niger * Nigeria * Niue (NZ) * Norfolk Island (AU) * North Korea * Northern Cyprus * Northern Mariana Islands (US) * Norway * Oman * Pakistan * Palau * Palestinian Authority * Panama * Papua New Guinea * Paraguay * Peru * Philippines * Pitcairn Island (GB) * Poland * Portugal * Puerto Rico (US) * Qatar * Reunion (FR) * Romania * Russia * Rwanda * Saba (NL)  * Saint Barthelemy (FR) * Saint Helena (GB) * Saint Kitts and Nevis * Saint Lucia * Saint Martin (FR) * Saint Pierre and Miquelon (FR) * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines * Samoa * San Marino * Sao Tome and Principe * Saudi Arabia * Senegal * Serbia * Seychelles * Sierra Leone * Singapore * Sint Eustatius (NL)  * Sint Maarten (NL)  * Slovakia * Slovenia * Solomon Islands * Somalia * South Africa * South Georgia (GB) * South Korea * South Sudan * Spain * Sri Lanka * Sudan * Suriname * Svalbard (NO) * Swaziland * Sweden * Switzerland * Syria * Taiwan * Tajikistan * Tanzania * Thailand * Togo * Tokelau (NZ) * Tonga * Trinidad and Tobago * Tunisia * Turkey * Turkmenistan * Turks and Caicos Islands (GB) * Tuvalu * U.S. Minor Pacific Islands (US) * U.S. Virgin Islands (US) * Uganda * Ukraine * United Arab Emirates * United Kingdom * United States * Uruguay * Uzbekistan * Vanuatu * Vatican City * Venezuela * Vietnam * Wallis and Futuna (FR) * Yemen * Zambia * Zimbabwe and major cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama, New York City, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Mexico City, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Manila, Mumbai, Delhi, Jakarta, Lagos, Kolkata, Cairo, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Shanghai, Karachi, Paris, Istanbul, Nagoya, Beijing, Chicago, London, Shenzhen, Essen, Düsseldorf, Tehran, Bogota, Lima, Bangkok, Johannesburg, East Rand, Chennai, Taipei, Baghdad, Santiago, Bangalore, Hyderabad, St Petersburg, Philadelphia, Lahore, Kinshasa, Miami, Ho Chi Minh City, Madrid, Tianjin, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Milan, Shenyang, Dallas, Fort Worth, Boston, Belo Horizonte, Khartoum, Riyadh, Singapore, Washington, Detroit, Barcelona,, Houston, Athens, Berlin, Sydney, Atlanta, Guadalajara, San Francisco, Oakland, Montreal, Monterey, Melbourne, Ankara, Recife, Phoenix/Mesa, Durban, Porto Alegre, Dalian, Jeddah, Seattle, Cape Town, San Diego, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Rome, Naples, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Tel Aviv, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Manchester, San Juan, Katowice, Tashkent, Fukuoka, Baku, Sumqayit, St. Louis, Baltimore, Sapporo, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Taichung, Warsaw, Denver, Cologne, Bonn, Hamburg, Dubai, Pretoria, Vancouver, Beirut, Budapest, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Campinas, Harare, Brasilia, Kuwait, Munich, Portland, Brussels, Vienna, San Jose, Damman , Copenhagen, Brisbane, Riverside, San Bernardino, Cincinnati and Accra

Pioneer space probes Written and fact-checked by Article History Pioneer Venus Orbiter Pioneer Venus Orbiter See all media Category: Science & Tech Related Topics: space probe Pioneer Pioneer Illustration of Pioneer 10. Pioneer 1 Pioneer 1 Pioneer 1, 1958. Pioneer, any of the first series of unmanned U.S. space probes designed chiefly for interplanetary study. Whereas the first five Pioneers (0–4, launched from 1958 to 1959) were intended to explore the vicinity of the Moon, all other probes in the series were sent to investigate planetary bodies or to measure various interplanetary-particle and magnetic-field effects. Pioneer 6 (launched 1965), for example, was injected into solar orbit to determine space conditions between Earth and Venus. It transmitted much data on the solar wind and solar cosmic rays in addition to measuring the Sun’s corona and the tail of Comet Kohoutek. Pioneer 6 was also one of the oldest functioning spacecraft, transmitting data back to Earth for almost 35 years. Pioneer 10 (launched March 3, 1972) flew by Jupiter in December 1973, the first space probe to do so, and discovered its huge magnetic tail, an extension of the planet’s magnetosphere. Pioneer 11 (launched April 6, 1973), also called Pioneer-Saturn, passed by Jupiter in December 1974 and flew within about 20,900 km (13,000 miles) of Saturn in September 1979. It transmitted data and photographs that enabled scientists on Earth to identify two additional rings around the planet and the presence of radiation belts within its magnetosphere. Pioneers 10 and 11 each carried a gold plaque inscribed with a pictorial message in the event that extraterrestrial beings ever found the spacecraft. Two complementary Pioneer Venus spacecraft (Pioneer 12 and 13; 1978) reached their destination at the end of 1978. The first, called the Orbiter, studied Venus’s clouds and atmosphere and mapped more than 90 percent of its surface by radar. The second spacecraft, the Multiprobe, dropped one large and three small instrument packages into the planet’s atmosphere at different locations to measure various physical and chemical properties. NASA Article Talk Read View source View history Tools Page semi-protected Listen to this article From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see NASA (disambiguation). National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Agency overview Abbreviation NASA Formed July 29, 1958; 65 years ago Preceding agency National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (1915–1958)[1] Type Space agency Aeronautics research agency Jurisdiction United States Federal Government Headquarters Washington, D.C. 38°52′59″N 77°0′59″W Administrator Bill Nelson Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy Primary spaceports John F. Kennedy Space CenterCape Canaveral Space Force StationVandenberg Space Force Base Employees 17,960 (2022)[2] Annual budget Increase US$25.384 billion (2023)[3] Website nasa.gov Part of a series on the United States space program NASAU.S. Space Force Human spaceflight programs Mercury Gemini Apollo Skylab Space Shuttle Shuttle–Mir International Space Station Commercial Crew Constellation Artemis Lunar Gateway Robotic spaceflight programs CRS Explorers GLS Large Strategic Lunar Orbiter Lunar Precursor Mariner Mars Exploration New Millennium Pioneer Planetary Missions Discovery New Frontiers Solar System Exploration Planetary Observer Ranger Surveyor Vanguard Viking Voyager X-37 NASA Astronaut Corps Mercury Gemini Apollo Space Shuttle Spaceports Eastern Range Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Kennedy Space Center Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska Western Range Vandenberg Space Force Base Space launch vehicles Alpha Antares Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Electron Falcon 9 Full Thrust Falcon Heavy LauncherOne Minotaur I III IV V C New Glenn New Shepard Pegasus Space Launch System Starship Vulcan Centaur National security space United States Space Force National Reconnaissance Office United States Space Command Civil space Department of Energy national laboratories Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Office of Space Commerce Space Weather Prediction Center Department of State Office of Space Affairs Office of Science and Technology Policy Commercial space industry Astra Ball Aerospace Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Boeing Firefly Aerospace Lockheed Martin Raytheon Rocket Lab Northrop Grumman Sierra Nevada Corporation SpaceX SSL United Launch Alliance Virgin Galactic Virgin Orbit vte The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA /ˈnæsə/) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science.[4][5][6] It has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. It currently supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, the Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. NASA's science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System;[7] advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program;[8] exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons and planetary rovers such as Perseverance;[9] and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the James Webb Space Telescope, the Great Observatories and associated programs.[10] The Launch Services Program oversees launch operations and countdown management for its uncrewed launches. History Creating a civil aeronautics and space agency Main articles: Creation of NASA and National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics A U.S. Air Force Bell X-1 test flight NASA traces its roots to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Despite being the birthplace of aviation, by 1914 the United States recognized that it was far behind Europe in aviation capability. Determined to regain American leadership in aviation, Congress created the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914 and established NACA in 1915 to foster aeronautical research and development. Over the next forty years NACA would conduct aeronautical research in support of the U.S. Air Force, its predecessors in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and the civil aviation sector. After the end of World War II, NACA became interested in the possibilities of guided missiles and supersonic aircraft, developing and testing the Bell X-1 in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force. NACA's interest in space grew out of its rocketry program at the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division.[11] Launch of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency's Explorer 1, America's first satellite The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in the Space Age and kicked off the Space Race. Despite NACA's early rocketry program, the responsibility for launching the first American satellite fell to the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard, whose operational issues ensured the Army Ballistic Missile Agency would launch Explorer 1, America's first satellite, on February 1, 1958. The Eisenhower Administration decided to split the United States' military and civil spaceflight programs, which were organized together under the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency. NASA was established on July 29, 1958, with the signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act and it began operations on October 1, 1958.[11] As the United States' premier aeronautics agency, NACA formed the core of NASA's new structure, absorbing its 8,000 employees and three major research laboratories. NASA also proceeded to absorb the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard, the Army's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under Wernher von Braun. This left NASA firmly as the United States' civil space lead and the Air Force as the military space lead.[11] First orbital and hypersonic flights Main article: Project Mercury Launch of Friendship 7, NASA's first orbital flight, February 20, 1962 Plans for human spaceflight began in the U.S. Armed Forces prior to NASA's creation. The Air Force's Man in Space Soonest and the Army's Project Adam served as the foundation for Project Mercury, the first American program to put people in space. NASA established the Space Task Group to manage the program, which would conduct sub-orbital flights with the Army's Redstone rockets and orbital flights with the Air Force's Atlas launch vehicles. While NASA intended for its first astronauts to be civilians, President Eisenhower directed that they be selected from the military. The Mercury 7 astronauts included three Air Force pilots, three Navy aviators, and one Marine Corps pilot.[11] The NASA-Air Force X-15 hypersonic aircraft On May 5, 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space, performing a suborbital spaceflight in the Freedom 7. This flight occurred less than a month after the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, executing a full orbital spaceflight. NASA's first orbital spaceflight was conducted by John Glenn on February 20, 1962, in the Friendship 7, conducting three full orbits before reentering. Glenn had to fly parts of his final two orbits manually due to a malfunction in the autopilot. The sixth and final Mercury mission was flown by Gordon Cooper in May 1963, performing 22 orbits over 34 hours in the Faith 7. The Mercury Program was a resounding success, achieving its objectives to orbit a human in space, develop tracking and control systems, and identify other issues associated with human spaceflight.[11] While much of NASA's attention turned to space, it did not forget its aeronautics mission. Early aeronautics research attempted to build upon the X-1's supersonic flight to build an aircraft capable of hypersonic flight. The North American X-15 was a joint NASA-U.S. Air Force program, with the hypersonic test aircraft becoming the first non-dedicated spacecraft to cross from the atmosphere to outer space. The X-15 also served as a testbed for Apollo program technologies and ramjet and scramjet propulsion.[11] Moon landing Main articles: Project Gemini and Apollo program Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 conduct an orbital rendezvous Escalations in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union prompted President John F. Kennedy to charge NASA with landing an American on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s, and installed James E. Webb as NASA administrator to achieve this goal. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy openly declared this goal in his "Urgent National Needs" speech to the United States Congress, declaring: I believe this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. Kennedy gave his "We choose to go to the Moon" speech the next year, on September 12, 1962 at Rice University. Despite attacks on the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon from the former president Dwight Eisenhower and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, President Kennedy was able to protect NASA's growing budget, of which 50% went directly to human spaceflight and it was later estimated that, at its height, 5% of Americans worked on some aspect of the Apollo program.[11] Launch of Apollo 11 To manage the Apollo program, NASA required a more rigorous approach than it applied to Project Mercury. Mirroring the Department of Defense's program management concept using redundant systems in building the first intercontinental ballistic missiles, NASA requested the Air Force assign Major General Samuel C. Phillips to the space agency where he would serve as the director of the Appollo program. Development of the Saturn V rocket was led by Wernher von Braun and his team at the Marshall Space Flight Center, derived from the Army Ballistic Missile Agency's original Saturn I. The Apollo spacecraft was designed and built by North American Aviation, while the Apollo Lunar Module was designed and built by Grumman.[11] To develop the spaceflight skills and equipment required for a lunar mission, NASA initiated Project Gemini. Using a modified Air Force Titan II launch vehicle, the Gemini capsule could hold two astronauts for flights of over two weeks. Gemini pioneered the use of fuel cells instead of legacy batteries and demonstrated spacewalks and rendezvous operations. NASA also needed more detailed information about the Moon's geography and composition to prepare for a landing, using three uncrewed spacecraft programs. Buzz Aldrin salutes the United States flag on the lunar surface The Ranger Program was started in the 1950s as a response to Soviet lunar exploration but was generally considered to be a failure. The Lunar Orbiter program had greater success, mapping the surface in preparation for Apollo landings and measured Selenography, conducted meteoroid detection, and measured radiation levels. The Surveyor program conducted uncrewed lunar landings and takeoffs, as well as taking surface and regolith observations.[11] Despite the setback caused by the Apollo 1 fire, which killed three astronauts, the program proceeded. Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times on December 24 and 25, 1968, and then traveled safely back to Earth.[12][13][14] The three Apollo 8 astronauts—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders—were the first humans to see the Earth as a globe in space, the first to witness an Earthrise, and the first to see and manually photograph the far side of the Moon. The first lunar landing was conducted by Apollo 11. Commanded by Neil Armstrong with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, Apollo 11 was one of the most significant missions in NASA's history, marking the end of the Space Race when the Soviet Union gave up its lunar ambitions. As the first human to step on the surface of the Moon, Neil Armstrong uttered the now famous words: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. NASA would conduct six total lunar landings as part of the Apollo program, with Apollo 17 concluding the program in 1972.[11] Apollo 15 CSM Endeavour in lunar orbit Wernher von Braun had advocated for NASA to develop a space station since the agency was created. In 1973, following the end of the Apollo lunar missions, NASA launched its first space station, Skylab, on the final launch of the Saturn V. Skylab repurposed a significant amount of former Apollo and Saturn hardware, with a repurposed Saturn V third stage serving as primary module for the space station. Damage to Skylab during launch required spacewalks by the first crew to make it habitable and operational. Skylab only hosted 9 missions and was decommissioned in 1974 and deorbited in 1979, two years prior to the Space Shuttle's launch and any possibility of boosting its orbit.[11] In 1975, the Apollo–Soyuz mission was the first ever international spaceflight and a major diplomatic accomplishment between the Cold War rivals. Flown in 1975, a U.S. Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz capsule. It also was the last flight of the Apollo capsule.[11] Interplanetary exploration and space science Image from Mars taken by the Viking 2 lander During the 1960s, NASA started its space science and interplanetary probe program. The Mariner program was its flagship program, launching probes to Venus, Mars, and Mercury in the 1960s. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was the lead NASA center for robotic interplanetary exploration, making significant discoveries about the inner planets. Despite these successes, Congress was unwilling to fund further interplanetary missions and NASA Administrator James Webb suspended all future interplanetary probes to focus resources on the Apollo program.[11] Following the conclusion of the Apollo program, NASA resumed launching interplanetary probes and expanded its space science program. The first planet tagged for exploration was Venus, sharing many similar characteristics to Earth. First visited by American Mariner 2 spacecraft, Venus was observed to be a hot and inhospitable planet. Follow-on missions included the Pioneer Venus project in the 1970s and Magellan, which performed radar mapping of Venus' surface in the 1980s and 1990s. Future missions were flybys of Venus, on their way to other destinations in the Solar System.[11] Mars has long been a planet of intense fascination for NASA, being suspected of potentially having harbored life. Mariner 5 was the first NASA spacecraft to flyby Mars, followed by Mariner 6 and Mariner 7. Mariner 9 was the first orbital mission to Mars. Launched in 1975, Viking program consisted of two landings on Mars in 1976. Follow-on missions would not be launched until 1996, with the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter and Mars Pathfinder, deploying the first Mars rover, Sojourner. During the early 2000s, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter reached the planet and in 2004 the Sprit and Opportunity rovers landed on the Red Planet. This was followed in 2005 by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and 2007 Phoenix Mars lander. The 2012 landing of Curiosity discovered that the radiation levels on Mars were equal to those on the International Space Station, greatly increasing the possibility of Human exploration, and observed the key chemical ingredients for life to occur. In 2013, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission observed the Martian upper atmosphere and space environment and in 2018, the Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight) studied the Martian interior. The 2021 Perseverance rover carried the first extraplanetary aircraft, a helicopter named Ingenuity.[11] Curiosity on the surface of Mars NASA also launched missions to Mercury in 2004, with the MESSENGER probe demonstrating as the first use of a solar sail. NASA also launched probes to the outer Solar System starting in the 1960s. Pioneer 10 was the first probe to the outer planets, flying by Jupiter, while Pioneer 11 provided the first close up view of the planet. Both probes became the first objects to leave the Solar System. The Voyager program launched in 1977, conducting flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus on a trajectory to leave the Solar System. The Galileo spacecraft, deployed from the Space Shuttle flight STS-34, was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, discovering evidence of subsurface oceans on the Europa and observed that the moon may hold ice or liquid water. A joint NASA-European Space Agency-Italian Space Agency mission, Cassini–Huygens, was sent to Saturn's moon of Titan, which along with Mars and Europa, are the only objects non-Terran objects in the Solar System suspected of being capable of harboring life. Cassini discovered three new moons of Saturn and the Huygens probe entered Titan's atmosphere. The mission discovered evidence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and subsurface water oceans on the moon of Enceladus, which could harbor life. Finally launched in 2006, the New Horizons mission was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.[11] Beyond interplanetary probes, NASA has a long tradition of launching space telescopes. Launched in the 1960s, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory were NASA's first orbital telescopes, providing ultraviolet, gamma-ray, x-ray, and infrared observations. Not just looking up, NASA launched the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory to look down at Earth and observe its interactions with the Sun. The Uhuru satellite was the first dedicated x-ray telescope, mapping 85% of the sky and discovering a large number of black holes.[11] The Hubble Space Telescope in Low Earth Orbit Launched in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Great Observatories program are among NASA's most powerful telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 on STS-31 from the Discovery and could view galaxies 15 light years away. A major defect in the telescope's mirror could have cripped the program, had NASA not used computer enhancement to compensate for the imperfection and launched five Space Shuttle servicing flights to replace the damaged components. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was launched from the Atlantis on STS-37 in 1991, discovering a possible source of antimatter at the center of the Milky Way and observing that the majority of gamma-ray bursts occur outside of the Milky Way galaxy. The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched from the Columbia on STS-93 in 1999, observing black holes, quasars, supernova, and dark matter. It provided critical observations on the Sagittarius A* black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy and the separation of dark and regular matter during galactic collisions. Finally, the Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared telescope and the last of the great observatories, launched in 2003 from a Delta II rocket. It is in a trailing orbit around the Sun, following the Earth and discovered the existence of brown dwarf stars.[11] Other telescopes, such as the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, provided evidence to support the Big Bang. The James Webb Space Telescope, named after the NASA administrator who lead the Apollo program, is an infrared observatory launched in 2021. The James Webb Space Telescope is a direct successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, intended to observe the formation of the first galaxies. Other space telescopes include the Kepler space telescope, launched in 2009 to identify planets orbiting extrasolar stars that may be Terran and possibly harbor life. The first exoplanet that the Keplar space telescope confirmed was Kepler-22b, orbiting within the habitable zone of its star.[11] NASA also launched a number of different satellites to study Earth, such as Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) in 1960, which was the first weather satellite. NASA and the United States Weather Bureau cooperated on future TIROS and the second generation Nimbus program of weather satellites. It also worked with the Environmental Science Services Administration on a series of weather satellites and the agency launched its experimental Applications Technology Satellites into geosynchronous orbit. NASA's first dedicated Earth observation satellite, Landsat, was launched in 1972. This led to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly developing the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and discovering Ozone depletion.[11] Space Shuttle Main article: Space Shuttle Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-120 NASA had been pursuing spaceplanes since the 1960s, blending the administration's dual aeronautics and space missions. NASA viewed a spaceplane as part of a larger program, providing routine and economical logistical support to a space station in Earth orbit that would be used as a hub for lunar and Mars missions. A reusable launch vehicle would end the need for expensive and expendable boosters like the Saturn V.[11] In 1969, NASA designated the Johnson Space Center as the lead center for developing the design, development, and manufacturing of the Space Shuttle orbiter, while the Marshall Space Flight Center would lead the development of the launch system. NASA's series of lifting body aircraft, culminating in the joint NASA-U.S. Air Force Martin Marietta X-24, directly informed the development of the Space Shuttle and future hypersonic flight aircraft. Official development of the Space Shuttle began in 1972, with Rockwell International contracted to design the orbiter and engines, Martin Marietta for the external fuel tank, and Morton Thiokol for the solid rocket boosters. NASA acquired six orbiters: the Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour[11] The Space Shuttle program also allowed NASA to make dramatic changes to its Astronaut Corps. While almost all previous astronauts were Air Force or Naval test pilots, the Space Shuttle allowed NASA to begin recruiting more non-military scientific and technical experts. A prime example is Sally Ride, who became the first American woman to fly in space on STS-7. It also allowed NASA to accept exchange astronauts from U.S. allies and partners for the first time.[11] The first Space Shuttle flight occurred in 1981, when the Columbia launched on the STS-1 mission, designed to serve as a flight test for the new spaceplane. NASA intended for the Space Shuttle to replace expendable launch systems like the Air Force's Atlas, Delta, and Titan and the European Space Agency's Ariane. The Space Shuttle's Spacelab payload, developed by the European Space Agency, dramatically increased the scientific capabilities of shuttle missions over anything NASA was able to previously accomplish.[11] Space Shuttle Discovery in Low Earth Orbit on STS-120 NASA launched its first commercial satellites on the STS-5 mission and in 1984, the STS-41-C mission conducted the world's first on-orbit satellite servicing mission when the Challenger captured and repaired the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite. It also had the capability to return malfunctioning satellite to Earth, like it did with the Palapa B2 and Westar 6 satellites. Once returned to Earth, the satellites were repaired and relaunched.[11] Despite ushering in a new era of spaceflight, where NASA was contracting launch services to commercial companies, the Space Shuttle was criticized for not being as reusable and cost-effective as advertised. In 1986, Challenger disaster on the STS-51L mission resulted in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts on launch, grounding the entire space shuttle fleet for 36 months and forced the 44 commercial companies that contracted with NASA to deploy their satellites to return to expendable launch vehicles. When the Space Shuttle returned to flight with the STS-26 mission, it had undergone significant modifications to improve its reliability and safety.[11] An Air Force Space Command Defense Support Program missile warning spacecraft deploys from the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-44 mission Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and United States initiated the Shuttle-Mir program. The first Russian cosmonaut flew on the STS-60 mission in 1994 and the Discovery rendezvoused, but did not dock with, the Russian Mir in the STS-63 mission. This was followed by Atlantis' STS-71 mission where it accomplished the initial intended mission for the Space Shuttle, docking with a space station and transferring supplies and personnel. The Shuttle-Mir program would continue until 1998, when a series of orbital accidents on the space station spelled an end to the program.[11] In 2003, a second space shuttle was lost when the Columbia was lost upon reentry during the STS-107 mission, resulting in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts. This accident marked the beginning of the end of the Space Shuttle program, with President George W. Bush directing that upon the completion of the International Space Station, the space shuttle be retired. In 2006, the Space Shuttle returned to flight and flew several additional missions, flying several mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, but was retired with the completion of the completion of the STS-135 resupply mission to the International Space Station in 2011. Space stations Main articles: Space Station Freedom and International Space Station Skylab seen on the Skylab 4 mission NASA never gave up on the idea of a space station after Skylab's reentry in 1979. The agency began lobbing politicians to support building a space station as soon as the Space Shuttle began flying, selling it as an orbital laboratory, repair station, and a jumping off point for lunar and Mars missions. NASA found a strong advocate in President Ronald Reagan, who declared in a 1984 speech: America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain. Tonight I am directing NASA to develop a permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade. In 1985, NASA proposed the Space Station Freedom, which both the agency and President Reagan intended to be an international program. While this would add legitimacy to the program, there were concerns within NASA that the international component would dilute its authority within the project, having never been willing to work with domestic or international partners as true equals. There was also a concern with sharing sensitive space technologies with the Europeans, which had the potential to dilute America's technical lead. Ultimately, an international agreement to develop the Space Station Freedom program would be signed with thirteen countries in 1985, including the European Space Agency member states, Canada, and Japan.[11] Despite its status as the first international space program, the Space Station Freedom was controversial, with much of the debate centering on cost. Several redesigns to reduce cost were conducted in the early 1990s, stripping away much of its functions. Despite calls for Congress to terminate the program, it continued, in large part because by 1992 it had created 75,000 jobs across 39 states. By 1993, President Bill Clinton attempted to significantly reduce NASA's budget and directed costs be significantly reduced, aerospace industry jobs were not lost, and the Russians be included.[11] The International Space Station seen from the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-132 mission In 1993, the Clinton Administration announced that the Space Station Freedom would become the International Space Station in an agreement with the Russian Federation. This allowed the Russians to maintain their space program through an infusion of American currency to maintain their status as one of the two premier space programs. While the United States built and launched the majority of the International Space Station, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency all contributed components. Despite NASA's insistence that costs would be kept at a budget of $17.4, they kept rising and NASA had to transfer funds from other programs to keep the International Space Station solvent. Ultimately, the total cost of the station was $150 billion, with the United States paying for two-thirds.Following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, NASA was forced to rely on Russian Soyuz launches for its astronauts and the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle accelerated the station's completion.[11] In the 1980s, right after the first flight of the Space Shuttle, NASA started a joint program with the Department of Defense to develop the Rockwell X-30 National Aerospace Plane. NASA realized that the Space Shuttle, while a massive technological accomplishment, would not be able to live up to all its promises. Designed to be a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane, the X-30 had both civil and military applications. With the end of the Cold War, the X-30 was canceled in 1992 before reaching flight status.[11] Unleashing commercial space and return to the Moon Main articles: Commercial Crew Program and Artemis program Launch of SpaceX Demo-2 from Kennedy Space Center, the first U.S. crewed space launch since the end of the Space Shuttle program Following the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, President Bush started the Constellation program to smoothly replace the Space Shuttle and expand space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Constellation was intended to use a significant amount of former Space Shuttle equipment and return astronauts to the Moon. This program was canceled by the Obama Administration and former astronauts Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, and Jim Lovell sent a letter to President Barack Obama to warn him that if the United States did not get new human spaceflight ability, the U.S. risked become a second or third-rate space power.[11] SpaceX Crew-2 docks with the International Space Station As early as the Reagan Administration, there had been calls for NASA to expand private sector involvement in space exploration rather than do it all in house. In the 1990s, NASA and Lockheed Martin entered into an agreement to develop the Lockheed Martin X-33 and VentureStar spaceplane, which was intended to replace the Space Shuttle. Due to technical challenges, the spacecraft was cancelled in 2001. Despite this, it was the first time a commercial space company directly expended a significant amount of its own resources into spacecraft development. The advent of space tourism also forced NASA to challenge its assumption that only governments would have people in space. The first space tourist was Dennis Tito, an American investment manager and former aerospace engineer who contracted with the Russians to fly to the International Space Station for four days, despite the opposition of NASA to the idea.[11] Launch of Artemis 1 Advocates of this new commercial approach for NASA included former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who remarked that it would return NASA to its roots as a research and development agency, with commercial entities actually operating the space systems. Having corporations take over orbital operations would also allow NASA to focus all its efforts on deep space exploration and returning humans to the Moon and going to Mars. Embracing this approach, NASA's Commercial Crew Program started by contracting cargo delivery to the International Space Station and flew its first operational contracted mission on SpaceX Crew-1. This marked the first time since the retirement of the Space Shuttle that NASA was able to launch its own astronauts on an American spacecraft from the United States, ending a decade of reliance on the Russians.[11] In 2019, NASA announced the Artemis program, intending to return to the Moon and establish a permanent human presence.[15] This was paired with the Artemis Accords with partner nations to establish rules of behavior and norms of space commercialization on the Moon.[16] Active programs Human spaceflight International Space Station (1993–present) Further information: International Space Station The International Space Station as seen from Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-134 The International Space Station (ISS) combines NASA's Space Station Freedom project with the Soviet/Russian Mir-2 station, the European Columbus station, and the Japanese Kibō laboratory module.[17] NASA originally planned in the 1980s to develop Freedom alone, but US budget constraints led to the merger of these projects into a single multi-national program in 1993, managed by NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).[18][19] The station consists of pressurized modules, external trusses, solar arrays and other components, which were manufactured in various factories around the world, and have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and the US Space Shuttles.[17] The on-orbit assembly began in 1998, the completion of the US Orbital Segment occurred in 2009 and the completion of the Russian Orbital Segment occurred in 2010, though there are some debates of whether new modules should be added in the segment. The ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and agreements[20] which divide the station into two areas and allow Russia to retain full ownership of the Russian Orbital Segment (with the exception of Zarya),[21][22] with the US Orbital Segment allocated between the other international partners.[20] Long-duration missions to the ISS are referred to as ISS Expeditions. Expedition crew members typically spend approximately six months on the ISS.[23] The initial expedition crew size was three, temporarily decreased to two following the Columbia disaster. Since May 2009, expedition crew size has been six crew members.[24] Crew size is expected to be increased to seven, the number the ISS was designed for, once the Commercial Crew Program becomes operational.[25] The ISS has been continuously occupied for the past 23 years and 150 days, having exceeded the previous record held by Mir; and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations.[26][27] The station can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye and, as of 2024, is the largest artificial satellite in Earth orbit with a mass and volume greater than that of any previous space station.[28] The Russian Soyuz and American Dragon spacecraft are used to send astronauts to and from the ISS. Several uncrewed cargo spacecraft provide service to the ISS; they are the Russian Progress spacecraft which has done so since 2000, the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) since 2008, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) since 2009, the (uncrewed) Dragon since 2012, and the American Cygnus spacecraft since 2013.[29][30] The Space Shuttle, before its retirement, was also used for cargo transfer and would often switch out expedition crew members, although it did not have the capability to remain docked for the duration of their stay. Between the retirement of the Shuttle in 2011 and the commencement of crewed Dragon flights in 2020, American astronauts exclusively used the Soyuz for crew transport to and from the ISS[31] The highest number of people occupying the ISS has been thirteen; this occurred three times during the late Shuttle ISS assembly missions.[32] The ISS program is expected to continue to 2030,[33] after which the space station will be retired and destroyed in a controlled de-orbit.[34] Commercial Resupply Services (2008–present) Further information: Commercial Resupply Services Dragon Cygnus Commercial Resupply Services missions approaching International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) are a contract solution to deliver cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on a commercial basis.[35] NASA signed its first CRS contracts in 2008 and awarded $1.6 billion to SpaceX for twelve cargo Dragon and $1.9 billion to Orbital Sciences[note 1] for eight Cygnus flights, covering deliveries to 2016. Both companies evolved or created their launch vehicle products to support the solution (SpaceX with The Falcon 9 and Orbital with the Antares). SpaceX flew its first operational resupply mission (SpaceX CRS-1) in 2012.[36] Orbital Sciences followed in 2014 (Cygnus CRS Orb-1).[37] In 2015, NASA extended CRS-1 to twenty flights for SpaceX and twelve flights for Orbital ATK.[note 1][38][39] A second phase of contracts (known as CRS-2) was solicited in 2014; contracts were awarded in January 2016 to Orbital ATK[note 1] Cygnus, Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser, and SpaceX Dragon 2, for cargo transport flights beginning in 2019 and expected to last through 2024. In March 2022, NASA awarded an additional six CRS-2 missions each to both SpaceX and Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital).[40] Northrop Grumman successfully delivered Cygnus NG-17 to the ISS in February 2022.[41] In July 2022, SpaceX launched its 25th CRS flight (SpaceX CRS-25) and successfully delivered its cargo to the ISS.[42] In late 2022, Sierra Nevada continued to assemble their Dream Chaser CRS solution; current estimates put its first launch in early 2023.[43] Commercial Crew Program (2011–present) Further information: Commercial Crew Program The Crew Dragon (left) and Starliner (right) approaching the ISS on their respective missions The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides commercially operated crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA, conducting crew rotations between the expeditions of the International Space Station program. American space manufacturer SpaceX began providing service in 2020, using the Crew Dragon spacecraft,[44] and NASA plans to add Boeing when its Boeing Starliner spacecraft becomes operational some time after 2024.[45] NASA has contracted for six operational missions from Boeing and fourteen from SpaceX, ensuring sufficient support for ISS through 2030.[46] The spacecraft are owned and operated by the vendor, and crew transportation is provided to NASA as a commercial service. Each mission sends up to four astronauts to the ISS, with an option for a fifth passenger available. Operational flights occur approximately once every six months for missions that last for approximately six months. A spacecraft remains docked to the ISS during its mission, and missions usually overlap by at least a few days. Between the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011 and the first operational CCP mission in 2020, NASA relied on the Soyuz program to transport its astronauts to the ISS. A Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched to space atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicle and the capsule returns to Earth via splashdown in the ocean near Florida. The program's first operational mission, SpaceX Crew-1, launched on November 16, 2020.[47] Boeing Starliner operational flights will now commence after its final test flight which was launched atop an Atlas V N22 launch vehicle. Instead of a splashdown, a Starliner capsule returns on land with airbags at one of four designated sites in the western United States.[48] Artemis (2017–present) Further information: Artemis program An arrowhead combined with a depiction of a trans-lunar injection trajectory forms an "A", with an "Artemis" wordmark printed underneath SLS with Orion rolling to Launch Complex 39B for tests, Mar 2022 Since 2017, NASA's crewed spaceflight program has been the Artemis program, which involves the help of US commercial spaceflight companies and international partners such as ESA, JAXA, and CSA.[49] The goal of this program is to land "the first woman and the next man" on the lunar south pole region by 2025. Artemis would be the first step towards the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, laying the foundation for companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually sending humans to Mars. The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle was held over from the canceled Constellation program for Artemis. Artemis 1 was the uncrewed initial launch of Space Launch System (SLS) that would also send an Orion spacecraft on a Distant Retrograde Orbit.[50] NASA's next major space initiative is to be the construction of the Lunar Gateway, a small space station in lunar orbit.[51] This space station will be designed primarily for non-continuous human habitation. The first tentative steps of returning to crewed lunar missions will be Artemis 2, which is to include the Orion crew module, propelled by the SLS, and is to launch in 2025.[49][52] This mission is to be a 10-day mission planned to briefly place a crew of four into a Lunar flyby.[53] The construction of the Gateway would begin with the proposed Artemis 3, which is planned to deliver a crew of four to Lunar orbit along with the first modules of the Gateway. This mission would last for up to 30 days. NASA plans to build full scale deep space habitats such as the Lunar Gateway and the Nautilus-X as part of its Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program.[54] In 2017, NASA was directed by the congressional NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 to get humans to Mars-orbit (or to the Martian surface) by the 2030s.[55][56] In support of the Artemis missions, NASA has been funding private companies to land robotic probes on the lunar surface in a program known as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services. As of March 2022, NASA has awarded contracts for robotic lunar probes to companies such as Intuitive Machines, Firefly Space Systems, and Astrobotic.[57] On April 16, 2021, NASA announced they had selected the SpaceX Lunar Starship as its Human Landing System. The agency's Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit where they will transfer to SpaceX's Starship for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon.[58] In November 2021, it was announced that the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024 had slipped to no earlier than 2025 due to numerous factors. Artemis 1 launched on November 16, 2022, and returned to Earth safely on December 11, 2022. As of June 2022, NASA plans to launch Artemis 2 in May 2024 and Artemis 3 in December 2025.[59][60] Additional Artemis missions, Artemis 4 and Artemis 5, are planned to launch after 2025.[61] Commercial LEO Development (2021–present) Further information: Commercial LEO Destinations program The Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations program is an initiative by NASA to support work on commercial space stations that the agency hopes to have in place by the end of the current decade to replace the "International Space Station". The three selected companies are: Blue Origin (et al.) with their Orbital Reef station concept, Nanoracks (et al.) with their Starlab Space Station concept, and Northrop Grumman with a station concept based on the HALO-module for the Gateway station.[62] Robotic exploration Further information: List of NASA missions and List of uncrewed NASA missions Video of many of the uncrewed missions used to explore the outer reaches of space NASA has conducted many uncrewed and robotic spaceflight programs throughout its history. More than 1,000 uncrewed missions have been designed to explore the Earth and the Solar System.[63] Mission selection process NASA executes a mission development framework to plan, select, develop, and operate robotic missions. This framework defines cost, schedule and technical risk parameters to enable competitive selection of missions involving mission candidates that have been developed by principal investigators and their teams from across NASA, the broader U.S. Government research and development stakeholders, and industry. The mission development construct is defined by four umbrella programs. Explorer program Further information: Explorers Program The Explorer program derives its origin from the earliest days of the U.S. Space program. In current form, the program consists of three classes of systems – Small Explorers (SMEX), Medium Explorers (MIDEX), and University-Class Explorers (UNEX) missions. The NASA Explorer program office provides frequent flight opportunities for moderate cost innovative solutions from the heliophysics and astrophysics science areas. The Small Explorer missions are required to limit cost to NASA to below $150M (2022 dollars). Medium class explorer missions have typically involved NASA cost caps of $350M. The Explorer program office is based at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.[64] Discovery program Further information: Discovery Program The NASA Discovery program develops and delivers robotic spacecraft solutions in the planetary science domain. Discovery enables scientists and engineers to assemble a team to deliver a solution against a defined set of objectives and competitively bid that solution against other candidate programs. Cost caps vary but recent mission selection processes were accomplished using a $500M cost cap for NASA. The Planetary Mission Program Office is based at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and manages both the Discovery and New Frontiers missions. The office is part of the Science Mission Directorate.[65] NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced on June 2, 2021, that the DAVINCI+ and VERITAS missions were selected to launch to Venus in the late 2020s, having beat out competing proposals for missions to Jupiter's volcanic moon Io and Neptune's large moon Triton that were also selected as Discovery program finalists in early 2020. Each mission has an estimated cost of $500 million, with launches expected between 2028 and 2030. Launch contracts will be awarded later in each mission's development.[66] New Frontiers program Further information: New Frontiers program The New Frontiers program focuses on specific Solar System exploration goals identified as top priorities by the planetary science community. Primary objectives include Solar System exploration employing medium class spacecraft missions to conduct high-science-return investigations. New Frontiers builds on the development approach employed by the Discovery program but provides for higher cost caps and schedule durations than are available with Discovery. Cost caps vary by opportunity; recent missions have been awarded based on a defined cap of $1 billion. The higher cost cap and projected longer mission durations result in a lower frequency of new opportunities for the program – typically one every several years. OSIRIS-REx and New Horizons are examples of New Frontiers missions.[67] NASA has determined that the next opportunity to propose for the fifth round of New Frontiers missions will occur no later than the fall of 2024. Missions in NASA's New Frontiers Program tackle specific Solar System exploration goals identified as top priorities by the planetary science community. Exploring the Solar System with medium-class spacecraft missions that conduct high-science-return investigations is NASA's strategy to further understand the Solar System.[68] Large strategic missions Further information: Large strategic science missions Large strategic missions (formerly called Flagship missions) are strategic missions that are typically developed and managed by large teams that may span several NASA centers. The individual missions become the program as opposed to being part of a larger effort (see Discovery, New Frontiers, etc.). The James Webb Space Telescope is a strategic mission that was developed over a period of more than 20 years. Strategic missions are developed on an ad-hoc basis as program objectives and priorities are established. Missions like Voyager, had they been developed today, would have been strategic missions. Three of the Great Observatories were strategic missions (the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and the Hubble Space Telescope). Europa Clipper is the next large strategic mission in development by NASA. Planetary science missions NASA continues to play a material role in exploration of the Solar System as it has for decades. Ongoing missions have current science objectives with respect to more than five extraterrestrial bodies within the Solar System – Moon (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter), Mars (Perseverance rover), Jupiter (Juno), asteroid Bennu (OSIRIS-REx), and Kuiper Belt Objects (New Horizons). The Juno extended mission will make multiple flybys of the Jovian moon Io in 2023 and 2024 after flybys of Ganymede in 2021 and Europa in 2022. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 continue to provide science data back to Earth while continuing on their outward journeys into interstellar space. On November 26, 2011, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission was successfully launched for Mars. The Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and subsequently began its search for evidence of past or present life on Mars.[69][70][71] In September 2014, NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, which is part of the Mars Scout Program, successfully entered Mars orbit and, as of October 2022, continues its study of the atmosphere of Mars.[72][73] NASA's ongoing Mars investigations include in-depth surveys of Mars by the Perseverance rover and InSight). NASA's Europa Clipper, planned for launch in October 2024, will study the Galilean moon Europa through a series of flybys while in orbit around Jupiter. Dragonfly will send a mobile robotic rotorcraft to Saturn's biggest moon, Titan.[74] As of May 2021, Dragonfly is scheduled for launch in June 2027.[75][76] Astrophysics missions NASA astrophysics spacecraft fleet, credit NASA GSFC, 2022 The NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics division manages the agency's astrophysics science portfolio. NASA has invested significant resources in the development, delivery, and operations of various forms of space telescopes. These telescopes have provided the means to study the cosmos over a large range of the electromagnetic spectrum.[77] The Great Observatories that were launched in the 1980s and 1990s have provided a wealth of observations for study by physicists across the planent. The first of them, the Hubble Space Telescope, was delivered to orbit in 1990 and continues to function, in part due to prior servicing missions performed by the Space Shuttle.[78][79] The other remaining active great observatories include the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), launched by STS-93 in July 1999 and is now in a 64-hour elliptical orbit studying X-ray sources that are not readily viewable from terrestrial observatories.[80] Chandra X-ray Observatory (rendering), 2015 The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a space observatory designed to improve the understanding of X-ray production in objects such as neutron stars and pulsar wind nebulae, as well as stellar and supermassive black holes.[81] IXPE launched in December 2021 and is an international collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). It is part of the NASA Small Explorers program (SMEX) which designs low-cost spacecraft to study heliophysics and astrophysics.[82] The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory was launched in November 2004 and is Gamma-ray burst observatory that also monitors the afterglow in X-ray, and UV/Visible light at the location of a burst.[83] The mission was developed in a joint partnership between Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and an international consortium from the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy. Pennsylvania State University operates the mission as part of NASA's Medium Explorer program (MIDEX).[84] The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (FGST) is another gamma-ray focused space observatory that was launched to low Earth orbit in June 2008 and is being used to perform gamma-ray astronomy observations.[85] In addition to NASA, the mission involves the United States Department of Energy, and government agencies in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden.[86] The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in December 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket, operates in a halo orbit circling the Sun-Earth L2 point.[87][88][89] JWST's high sensitivity in the infrared spectrum and its imaging resolution will allow it to view more distant, faint, or older objects than its predecessors, including Hubble.[90] Earth Sciences Program missions (1965–present) Further information: NASA Earth Science Schematic of NASA Earth Science Division operating satellite missions as of February 2015 NASA Earth Science is a large, umbrella program comprising a range of terrestrial and space-based collection systems in order to better understand the Earth system and its response to natural and human-caused changes. Numerous systems have been developed and fielded over several decades to provide improved prediction for weather, climate, and other changes in the natural environment. Several of the current operating spacecraft programs include: Aqua,[91] Aura,[92] Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2),[93] Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE FO),[94] and Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2).[95] In addition to systems already in orbit, NASA is designing a new set of Earth Observing Systems to study, assess, and generate responses for climate change, natural hazards, forest fires, and real-time agricultural processes.[96] The GOES-T satellite (designated GOES-18 after launch) joined the fleet of U.S. geostationary weather monitoring satellites in March 2022.[97] NASA also maintains the Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) program to oversee the life cycle of NASA's Earth science data — from acquisition through processing and distribution. The primary goal of ESDS is to maximize the scientific return from NASA's missions and experiments for research and applied scientists, decision makers, and society at large.[98] The Earth Science program is managed by the Earth Science Division of the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Space operations architecture NASA invests in various ground and space-based infrastructures to support its science and exploration mandate. The agency maintains access to suborbital and orbital space launch capabilities and sustains ground station solutions to support its evolving fleet of spacecraft and remote systems. Deep Space Network (1963–present) Further information: NASA Deep Space Network The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) serves as the primary ground station solution for NASA's interplanetary spacecraft and select Earth-orbiting missions.[99] The system employs ground station complexes near Barstow California in the United States, in Spain near Madrid, and in Australia near Canberra. The placement of these ground stations approximately 120 degrees apart around the planet provides the ability for communications to spacecraft throughout the Solar System even as the Earth rotates about its axis on a daily basis. The system is controlled at a 24x7 operations center at JPL in Pasadena California which manages recurring communications linkages with up to 40 spacecraft.[100] The system is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).[99] Near Space Network (1983–present) Further information: Near Earth Network and Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System Near Earth Network Ground Stations, 2021 The Near Space Network (NSN) provides telemetry, commanding, ground-based tracking, data and communications services to a wide range of customers with satellites in low earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous orbit (GEO), highly elliptical orbits (HEO), and lunar orbits. The NSN accumulates ground station and antenna assets from the Near-Earth Network and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRS) which operates in geosynchronous orbit providing continuous real-time coverage for launch vehicles and low earth orbit NASA missions.[101] The NSN consists of 19 ground stations worldwide operated by the US Government and by contractors including Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), and South African National Space Agency (SANSA).[102] The ground network averages between 120 and 150 spacecraft contacts a day with TDRS engaging with systems on a near-continuous basis as needed; the system is managed and operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center.[103] Sounding Rocket Program (1959–present) Further information: NASA Sounding Rocket Program NASA sounding rocket launch from the Wallops Flight Facility The NASA Sounding Rocket Program (NSRP) is located at the Wallops Flight Facility and provides launch capability, payload development and integration, and field operations support to execute suborbital missions.[104] The program has been in operation since 1959 and is managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center using a combined US Government and contractor team.[105] The NSRP team conducts approximately 20 missions per year from both Wallops and other launch locations worldwide to allow scientists to collect data "where it occurs". The program supports the strategic vision of the Science Mission Directorate collecting important scientific data for earth science, heliophysics, and astrophysics programs.[104] In June 2022, NASA conducted its first rocket launch from a commercial spaceport outside the US. It launched a Black Brant IX from the Arnhem Space Centre in Australia.[106] Launch Services Program (1990–present) Further information: NASA Launch Services Program The NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for procurement of launch services for NASA uncrewed missions and oversight of launch integration and launch preparation activity, providing added quality and mission assurance to meet program objectives.[107] Since 1990, NASA has purchased expendable launch vehicle launch services directly from commercial providers, whenever possible, for its scientific and applications missions. Expendable launch vehicles can accommodate all types of orbit inclinations and altitudes and are ideal vehicles for launching Earth-orbit and interplanetary missions. LSP operates from Kennedy Space Center and falls under the NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD).[108][109] Aeronautics Research Further information: NASA research and Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) is one of five mission directorates within NASA, the other four being the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, the Space Operations Mission Directorate, the Science Mission Directorate, and the Space Technology Mission Directorate.[110] The ARMD is responsible for NASA's aeronautical research, which benefits the commercial, military, and general aviation sectors. ARMD performs its aeronautics research at four NASA facilities: Ames Research Center and Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Ohio, and Langley Research Center in Virginia.[111] NASA X-57 Maxwell aircraft (2016–present) Further information: NASA X-57 Maxwell The NASA X-57 Maxwell is an experimental aircraft being developed by NASA to demonstrate the technologies required to deliver a highly efficient all-electric aircraft.[112] The primary goal of the program is to develop and deliver all-electric technology solutions that can also achieve airworthiness certification with regulators. The program involves development of the system in several phases, or modifications, to incrementally grow the capability and operability of the system. The initial configuration of the aircraft has now completed ground testing as it approaches its first flights. In mid-2022, the X-57 was scheduled to fly before the end of the year.[113] The development team includes staff from the NASA Armstrong, Glenn, and Langley centers along with number of industry partners from the United States and Italy.[114] Next Generation Air Transportation System (2007–present) Further information: Next Generation Air Transportation System NASA is collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration and industry stakeholders to modernize the United States National Airspace System (NAS). Efforts began in 2007 with a goal to deliver major modernization components by 2025.[115] The modernization effort intends to increase the safety, efficiency, capacity, access, flexibility, predictability, and resilience of the NAS while reducing the environmental impact of aviation.[116] The Aviation Systems Division of NASA Ames operates the joint NASA/FAA North Texas Research Station. The station supports all phases of NextGen research, from concept development to prototype system field evaluation. This facility has already transitioned advanced NextGen concepts and technologies to use through technology transfers to the FAA.[115] NASA contributions also include development of advanced automation concepts and tools that provide air traffic controllers, pilots, and other airspace users with more accurate real-time information about the nation's traffic flow, weather, and routing. Ames' advanced airspace modeling and simulation tools have been used extensively to model the flow of air traffic flow across the U.S., and to evaluate new concepts in airspace design, traffic flow management, and optimization.[117] Technology research For technologies funded or otherwise supported by NASA, see NASA spinoff technologies. Nuclear in-space power and propulsion (ongoing) NASA has made use of technologies such as the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG), which is a type of radioisotope thermoelectric generator used to power spacecraft.[118] Shortages of the required plutonium-238 have curtailed deep space missions since the turn of the millennium.[119] An example of a spacecraft that was not developed because of a shortage of this material was New Horizons 2.[119] In July 2021, NASA announced contract awards for development of nuclear thermal propulsion reactors. Three contractors will develop individual designs over 12 months for later evaluation by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy.[120] NASA's space nuclear technologies portfolio are led and funded by its Space Technology Mission Directorate. In January 2023, NASA announced a partnership with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program to demonstrate a NTR engine in space, an enabling capability for NASA missions to Mars.[121] In July 2023, NASA and DARPA jointly announced the award of $499 million to Lockheed Martin to design and build an experimental NTR rocket to be launched in 2027.[122] Other initiatives Free Space Optics. NASA contracted a third party to study the probability of using Free Space Optics (FSO) to communicate with Optical (laser) Stations on the Ground (OGS) called laser-com RF networks for satellite communications.[123] Water Extraction from Lunar Soil. On July 29, 2020, NASA requested American universities to propose new technologies for extracting water from the lunar soil and developing power systems. The idea will help the space agency conduct sustainable exploration of the Moon.[124] Human Spaceflight Research (2005–present) SpaceX Crew-4 astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti operating the rHEALTH ONE on the ISS to address key health risks for space travel NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) is designed to study the effects of space on human health and also to provide countermeasures and technologies for human space exploration. The medical effects of space exploration are reasonably limited in low Earth orbit or in travel to the Moon. Travel to Mars is significantly longer and deeper into space, significant medical issues can result. These include bone density loss, radiation exposure, vision changes, circadian rhythm disturbances, heart remodeling, and immune alterations. In order to study and diagnose these ill-effects, HRP has been tasked with identifying or developing small portable instrumentation with low mass, volume, and power to monitor the health of astronauts.[125] To achieve this aim, on May 13, 2022, NASA and SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts successfully tested its rHEALTH ONE universal biomedical analyzer for its ability to identify and analyzer biomarkers, cells, microorganisms, and proteins in a spaceflight environment.[126] Planetary Defense (2016–present) Further information: Planetary Defense Coordination Office and Near Earth Objects NASA established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) in 2016 to catalog and track potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEO), such as asteroids and comets and develop potential responses and defenses against these threats.[127] The PDCO is chartered to provide timely and accurate information to the government and the public on close approaches by Potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) and any potential for impact. The office functions within the Science Mission Directorate Planetary Science division.[128] The PDCO augmented prior cooperative actions between the United States, the European Union, and other nations which had been scanning the sky for NEOs since 1998 in an effort called Spaceguard.[129] Near Earth object detection (1998–present) From the 1990s NASA has run many NEO detection programs from Earth bases observatories, greatly increasing the number of objects that have been detected. Many asteroids are very dark and those near the Sun are much harder to detect from Earth-based telescopes which observe at night, and thus face away from the Sun. NEOs inside Earth orbit only reflect a part of light also rather than potentially a "full Moon" when they are behind the Earth and fully lit by the Sun. In 1998, the United States Congress gave NASA a mandate to detect 90% of near-Earth asteroids over 1 km (0.62 mi) diameter (that threaten global devastation) by 2008.[130] This initial mandate was met by 2011.[131] In 2005, the original USA Spaceguard mandate was extended by the George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act, which calls for NASA to detect 90% of NEOs with diameters of 140 m (460 ft) or greater, by 2020 (compare to the 20-meter Chelyabinsk meteor that hit Russia in 2013).[132] As of January 2020, it is estimated that less than half of these have been found, but objects of this size hit the Earth only about once in 2,000 years.[133] In January 2020, NASA officials estimated it would take 30 years to find all objects meeting the 140 m (460 ft) size criteria, more than twice the timeframe that was built into the 2005 mandate.[134] In June 2021, NASA authorized the development of the NEO Surveyor spacecraft to reduce that projected duration to achieve the mandate down to 10 years.[135][136] Involvement in current robotic missions NASA has incorporated planetary defense objectives into several ongoing missions. In 1999, NASA visited 433 Eros with the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft which entered its orbit in 2000, closely imaging the asteroid with various instruments at that time.[137] NEAR Shoemaker became the first spacecraft to successfully orbit and land on an asteroid, improving our understanding of these bodies and demonstrating our capacity to study them in greater detail.[138] OSIRIS-REx used its suite of instruments to transmit radio tracking signals and capture optical images of Bennu during its study of the asteroid that will help NASA scientists determine its precise position in the solar system and its exact orbital path. As Bennu has the potential for recurring approaches to the Earth-Moon system in the next 100–200 years, the precision gained from OSIRIS-REx will enable scientists to better predict the future gravitational interactions between Bennu and our planet and resultant changes in Bennu's onward flight path.[139][140] The WISE/NEOWISE mission was launched by NASA JPL in 2009 as an infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope. In 2013, NASA repurposed it as the NEOWISE mission to find potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids and comets; its mission has been extended into 2023.[141][142] NASA and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHAPL) jointly developed the first planetary defense purpose-built satellite, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) to test possible planetary defense concepts.[143] DART was launched in November 2021 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 from California on a trajectory designed to impact the Dimorphos asteroid. Scientists were seeking to determine whether an impact could alter the subsequent path of the asteroid; a concept that could be applied to future planetary defense.[144] On September 26, 2022, DART hit its target. In the weeks following impact, NASA declared DART a success, confirming it had shortened Dimorphos' orbital period around Didymos by about 32 minutes, surpassing the pre-defined success threshold of 73 seconds.[145][146] NEO Surveyor, formerly called the Near-Earth Object Camera (NEOCam) mission, is a space-based infrared telescope under development to survey the Solar System for potentially hazardous asteroids.[147] The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2026. Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (2022–present) In June 2022, the head of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, confirmed the start of NASA's UAP independent study team.[148] At a speech before the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, Zurbuchen said the space agency would bring a scientific perspective to efforts already underway by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to make sense of dozens of such sightings. He said it was "high-risk, high-impact" research that the space agency should not shy away from, even if it is a controversial field of study.[149] Collaboration NASA Advisory Council In response to the Apollo 1 accident, which killed three astronauts in 1967, Congress directed NASA to form an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to advise the NASA Administrator on safety issues and hazards in NASA's air and space programs. In the aftermath of the Shuttle Columbia disaster, Congress required that the ASAP submit an annual report to the NASA Administrator and to Congress.[150] By 1971, NASA had also established the Space Program Advisory Council and the Research and Technology Advisory Council to provide the administrator with advisory committee support. In 1977, the latter two were combined to form the NASA Advisory Council (NAC).[151] The NASA Authorization Act of 2014 reaffirmed the importance of ASAP. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Further information: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NASA and NOAA have cooperated for decades on the development, delivery and operation of polar and geosynchronous weather satellites.[152] The relationship typically involves NASA developing the space systems, launch solutions, and ground control technology for the satellites and NOAA operating the systems and delivering weather forecasting products to users. Multiple generations of NOAA Polar orbiting platforms have operated to provide detailed imaging of weather from low altitude.[153] Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) provide near-real-time coverage of the western hemisphere to ensure accurate and timely understanding of developing weather phenomenon.[154] United States Space Force Further information: United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the United States Armed Forces, while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for civil spaceflight. NASA and the Space Force's predecessors in the Air Force have a long-standing cooperative relationship, with the Space Force supporting NASA launches out of Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, to include range support and rescue operations from Task Force 45.[155] NASA and the Space Force also partner on matters such as defending Earth from asteroids.[156] Space Force members can be NASA astronauts, with Colonel Michael S. Hopkins, the commander of SpaceX Crew-1, commissioned into the Space Force from the International Space Station on December 18, 2020.[157][158][159] In September 2020, the Space Force and NASA signed a memorandum of understanding formally acknowledging the joint role of both agencies. This new memorandum replaced a similar document signed in 2006 between NASA and Air Force Space Command.[160][161] U.S. Geological Survey Further information: United States Geological Survey and Landsat 9 The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA / USGS program.[162] On July 23, 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually renamed to Landsat 1 in 1975.[163] The most recent satellite in the series, Landsat 9, was launched on September 27, 2021.[164] The instruments on the Landsat satellites have acquired millions of images. The images, archived in the United States and at Landsat receiving stations around the world, are a unique resource for global change research and applications in agriculture, cartography, geology, forestry, regional planning, surveillance and education, and can be viewed through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) "EarthExplorer" website. The collaboration between NASA and USGS involves NASA designing and delivering the space system (satellite) solution, launching the satellite into orbit with the USGS operating the system once in orbit.[162] As of October 2022, nine satellites have been built with eight of them successfully operating in orbit. European Space Agency (ESA) Further information: European Space Agency NASA collaborates with the European Space Agency on a wide range of scientific and exploration requirements.[165] From participation with the Space Shuttle (the Spacelab missions) to major roles on the Artemis program (the Orion Service Module), ESA and NASA have supported the science and exploration missions of each agency. There are NASA payloads on ESA spacecraft and ESA payloads on NASA spacecraft. The agencies have developed joint missions in areas including heliophysics (e.g. Solar Orbiter)[166] and astronomy (Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope).[167] Under the Artemis Gateway partnership, ESA will contribute habitation and refueling modules, along with enhanced lunar communications, to the Gateway.[168][169] NASA and ESA continue to advance cooperation in relation to Earth Science including climate change with agreements to cooperate on various missions including the Sentinel-6 series of spacecraft[170] Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Further information: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) cooperate on a range of space projects. JAXA is a direct participant in the Artemis program, including the Lunar Gateway effort. JAXA's planned contributions to Gateway include I-Hab's environmental control and life support system, batteries, thermal control, and imagery components, which will be integrated into the module by the European Space Agency (ESA) prior to launch. These capabilities are critical for sustained Gateway operations during crewed and uncrewed time periods.[171][172] JAXA and NASA have collaborated on numerous satellite programs, especially in areas of Earth science. NASA has contributed to JAXA satellites and vice versa. Japanese instruments are flying on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, and NASA sensors have flown on previous Japanese Earth-observation missions. The NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement mission was launched in 2014 and includes both NASA- and JAXA-supplied sensors on a NASA satellite launched on a JAXA rocket. The mission provides the frequent, accurate measurements of rainfall over the entire globe for use by scientists and weather forecasters.[173] Roscosmos Further information: Roscosmos NASA and Roscosmos have cooperated on the development and operation of the International Space Station since September 1993.[174] The agencies have used launch systems from both countries to deliver station elements to orbit. Astronauts and Cosmonauts jointly maintain various elements of the station. Both countries provide access to the station via launch systems noting Russia's unique role as the sole provider of delivery of crew and cargo upon retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 and prior to commencement of NASA COTS and crew flights. In July 2022, NASA and Roscosmos signed a deal to share space station flights enabling crew from each country to ride on the systems provided by the other.[175] Current geopolitical conditions in late 2022 make it unlikely that cooperation will be extended to other programs such as Artemis or lunar exploration.[176] Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Further information: ISRO In September 2014, NASA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a partnership to collaborate on and launch a joint radar mission, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperature Radar (NISAR) mission. The mission is targeted to launch in 2024. NASA will provide the mission's L-band synthetic aperture radar, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder and payload data subsystem. ISRO provides the spacecraft bus, the S-band radar, the launch vehicle and associated launch services.[177][178] Artemis Accords Further information: Artemis Accords The Artemis Accords have been established to define a framework for cooperating in the peaceful exploration and exploitation of the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and comets. The Accords were drafted by NASA and the U.S. State Department and are executed as a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and the participating countries.[179][180] As of September 2022, 21 countries have signed the accords. They are Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[181][182] China National Space Administration Further information: Wolf Amendment and China National Space Administration The Wolf Amendment was passed by the U.S. Congress into law in 2011 and prevents NASA from engaging in direct, bilateral cooperation with the Chinese government and China-affiliated organizations such as the China National Space Administration without the explicit authorization from Congress and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The law has been renewed annually since by inclusion in annual appropriations bills.[183] Management Leadership Administrator Bill Nelson (2021–present) The agency's administration is located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and provides overall guidance and direction.[184] Except under exceptional circumstances, NASA civil service employees are required to be US citizens.[185] NASA's administrator is nominated by the President of the United States subject to the approval of the US Senate,[186] and serves at the President's pleasure as a senior space science advisor. The current administrator is Bill Nelson, appointed by President Joe Biden, since May 3, 2021.[187] Strategic plan NASA operates with four FY2022 strategic goals.[188] Expand human knowledge through new scientific discoveries Extend human presence to the Moon and on towards Mars for sustainable long-term exploration, development, and utilization Catalyze economic growth and drive innovation to address national challenges Enhance capabilities and operations to catalyze current and future mission success Budget Further information: Budget of NASA NASA budget requests are developed by NASA and approved by the administration prior to submission to the U.S. Congress. Authorized budgets are those that have been included in enacted appropriations bills that are approved by both houses of Congress and enacted into law by the U.S. president.[189] NASA fiscal year budget requests and authorized budgets are provided below. Year Budget Request in bil. US$ Authorized Budget in bil. US$ U.S. Government Employees 2018 $19.092[190] $20.736[191] 17,551[192] 2019 $19.892[191] $21.500[193] 17,551[194] 2020 $22.613[193] $22.629[195] 18,048[196] 2021 $25.246[195] $23.271[197] 18,339[198] 2022 $24.802[197] $24.041[199] 18,400 est Organization NASA funding and priorities are developed through its six Mission Directorates. Mission Directorate Associate Administrator % of NASA Budget (FY22)[197] Aeronautics Research (ARMD) Catherine A. Koerner[200] 4% Exploration Systems Development (ESDMD) James Free[201] 28% Space Operations (SOMD) Kenneth Bowersox[202] 17% Science (SMD) Nicola Fox[203] 32% Space Technology (STMD) Kurt Vogel [204] 5% Mission Support (MSD) Robert Gibbs[205] 14% Center-wide activities such as the Chief Engineer and Safety and Mission Assurance organizations are aligned to the headquarters function. The MSD budget estimate includes funds for these HQ functions. The administration operates 10 major field centers with several managing additional subordinate facilities across the country. Each is led by a Center Director (data below valid as of September 1, 2022). Field Center Primary Location Center Director Ames Research Center Mountain View, California Eugene L. Tu[206] Armstrong Flight Research Center Palmdale, California Brad Flick (acting)[207] Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio James A. Kenyon (acting)[208] Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland Makenzie Lystrup[209] Jet Propulsion Laboratory La Canada-Flintridge, California Laurie Leshin[210] Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas Vanessa E. Wyche[211] Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island, Florida Janet Petro[212] Langley Research Center Hampton, Virginia Clayton Turner[213] Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, Alabama Jody Singer[214] Stennis Space Center Hancock County, Mississippi Richard J. Gilbrech[215] Sustainability Environmental impact The exhaust gases produced by rocket propulsion systems, both in Earth's atmosphere and in space, can adversely affect the Earth's environment. Some hypergolic rocket propellants, such as hydrazine, are highly toxic prior to combustion, but decompose into less toxic compounds after burning. Rockets using hydrocarbon fuels, such as kerosene, release carbon dioxide and soot in their exhaust.[216] Carbon dioxide emissions are insignificant compared to those from other sources; on average, the United States consumed 803 million US gal (3.0 million m3) of liquid fuels per day in 2014, while a single Falcon 9 rocket first stage burns around 25,000 US gallons (95 m3) of kerosene fuel per launch.[217][218] Even if a Falcon 9 were launched every single day, it would only represent 0.006% of liquid fuel consumption (and carbon dioxide emissions) for that day. Additionally, the exhaust from LOx- and LH2- fueled engines, like the SSME, is almost entirely water vapor.[219] NASA addressed environmental concerns with its canceled Constellation program in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act in 2011.[220] In contrast, ion engines use harmless noble gases like xenon for propulsion.[221][222] An example of NASA's environmental efforts is the NASA Sustainability Base. Additionally, the Exploration Sciences Building was awarded the LEED Gold rating in 2010.[223] On May 8, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency recognized NASA as the first federal agency to directly use landfill gas to produce energy at one of its facilities—the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.[224] In 2018, NASA along with other companies including Sensor Coating Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Monitor Coating and UTRC launched the project CAUTION (CoAtings for Ultra High Temperature detectION). This project aims to enhance the temperature range of the Thermal History Coating up to 1,500 °C (2,730 °F) and beyond. The final goal of this project is improving the safety of jet engines as well as increasing efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.[225] Climate change NASA also researches and publishes on climate change.[226] Its statements concur with the global scientific consensus that the global climate is warming.[227] Bob Walker, who has advised US President Donald Trump on space issues, has advocated that NASA should focus on space exploration and that its climate study operations should be transferred to other agencies such as NOAA. Former NASA atmospheric scientist J. Marshall Shepherd countered that Earth science study was built into NASA's mission at its creation in the 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act.[228] NASA won the 2020 Webby People's Voice Award for Green in the category Web.[229] STEM Initiatives Further information: STEM Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa). Since 2011, the ELaNa program has provided opportunities for NASA to work with university teams to test emerging technologies and commercial-off-the-shelf solutions by providing launch opportunities for developed CubeSats using NASA procured launch opportunities.[230] By example, two NASA-sponsored CubeSats launched in June 2022 on a Virgin Orbit LauncherOne vehicle as the ELaNa 39 mission.[231] Cubes in Space. NASA started an annual competition in 2014 named "Cubes in Space".[232] It is jointly organized by NASA and the global education company I Doodle Learning, with the objective of teaching school students aged 11–18 to design and build scientific experiments to be launched into space on a NASA rocket or balloon. On June 21, 2017, the world's smallest satellite, KalamSAT, was launched.[233] Use of the metric system US law requires the International System of Units to be used in all US Government programs, "except where impractical".[234] In 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon using a mix of United States customary units and metric units. In the 1980s, NASA started the transition towards the metric system, but was still using both systems in the 1990s.[235][236] On September 23, 1999, a mixup between NASA's use of SI units and Lockheed Martin Space's use of US units resulted in the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter.[237] In August 2007, NASA stated that all future missions and explorations of the Moon would be done entirely using the SI system. This was done to improve cooperation with space agencies of other countries that already use the metric system.[238] As of 2007, NASA is predominantly working with SI units, but some projects still use US units, and some, including the International Space Station, use a mix of both.[239] Media presence NASA TV Further information: NASA TV Approaching 40 years of service, the NASA TV channel airs content ranging from live coverage of crewed missions to video coverage of significant milestones for operating robotic spacecraft (e.g. rover landings on Mars) and domestic and international launches.[240] The channel is delivered by NASA and is broadcast by satellite and over the Internet. The system initially started to capture archival footage of important space events for NASA managers and engineers and expanded as public interest grew. The Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast while in orbit around the Moon was received by more than a billion people.[241] NASA's video transmission of the Apollo 11 Moon landing was awarded a primetime Emmy in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the landing.[242] The channel is a product of the U.S. Government and is widely available across many television and Internet platforms.[243] NASAcast NASAcast is the official audio and video podcast of the NASA website. Created in late 2005, the podcast service contains the latest audio and video features from the NASA web site, including NASA TV's This Week at NASA and educational materials produced by NASA. Additional NASA podcasts, such as Science@NASA, are also featured and give subscribers an in-depth look at content by subject matter.[244] NASA EDGE NASA EDGE broadcasting live from White Sands Missile Range in 2010 NASA EDGE is a video podcast which explores different missions, technologies and projects developed by NASA. The program was released by NASA on March 18, 2007, and, as of August 2020, there have been 200 vodcasts produced. It is a public outreach vodcast sponsored by NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and based out of the Exploration and Space Operations Directorate at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The NASA EDGE team takes an insider's look at current projects and technologies from NASA facilities around the United States, and it is depicted through personal interviews, on-scene broadcasts, computer animations, and personal interviews with top scientists and engineers at NASA.[note 2] The show explores the contributions NASA has made to society as well as the progress of current projects in materials and space exploration. NASA EDGE vodcasts can be downloaded from the NASA website and from iTunes. In its first year of production, the show was downloaded over 450,000 times. As of February 2010, the average download rate is more than 420,000 per month, with over one million downloads in December 2009 and January 2010.[246] NASA and the NASA EDGE have also developed interactive programs designed to complement the vodcast. The Lunar Electric Rover App allows users to drive a simulated Lunar Electric Rover between objectives, and it provides information about and images of the vehicle.[247] The NASA EDGE Widget provides a graphical user interface for accessing NASA EDGE vodcasts, image galleries, and the program's Twitter feed, as well as a live NASA news feed.[248] Astronomy Picture of the Day This section is an excerpt from Astronomy Picture of the Day.[edit] Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a website provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University (MTU). It reads: "Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer."[249] The photograph does not necessarily correspond to a celestial event on the exact day that it is displayed, and images are sometimes repeated.[250] These often relate to current events in astronomy and space exploration. The text has several hyperlinks to more pictures and websites for more information. The images are either visible spectrum photographs, images taken at non-visible wavelengths and displayed in false color, video footage, animations, artist's conceptions, or micrographs that relate to space or cosmology. Past images are stored in the APOD Archive, with the first image appearing on June 16, 1995.[251] This initiative has received support from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and MTU. The images are sometimes authored by people or organizations outside NASA, and therefore APOD images are often copyrighted, unlike many other NASA image galleries.[252] NASA+ Main article: NASA+ In July 2023, NASA announced a new streaming service known as NASA+. It launched on November 8, 2023, and has live coverage of launches, documentaries and original programs. According to NASA, it will be free of ads and subscription fees. It will be a part of the NASA app on iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on the web on desktop and mobile devices.[253][254][255] Gallery NASA spacecraft observations of the Solar System Sun image by Solar Dynamics Observatory, 2010 Sun image by Solar Dynamics Observatory, 2010 Planet Mercury image by MESSENGER, 2008 Planet Mercury image by MESSENGER, 2008 Planet Venus image by Mariner 10, 1974 Planet Venus image by Mariner 10, 1974 Planet Earth image by Apollo 17 crew, 1972 Planet Earth image by Apollo 17 crew, 1972 Moon image by Apollo 8 crew, 1968 Moon image by Apollo 8 crew, 1968 Planet Mars image by Viking 1, 1976 Planet Mars image by Viking 1, 1976 Asteroid 433 Eros image by NEAR Shoemaker, 2000 Asteroid 433 Eros image by NEAR Shoemaker, 2000 Dwarf planet Ceres image by Dawn, 2015 Dwarf planet Ceres image by Dawn, 2015 Planet Jupiter image by Juno, 2019 Planet Jupiter image by Juno, 2019 Moon Io (Jupiter) image by Galileo, 1999 Moon Io (Jupiter) image by Galileo, 1999 Planet Saturn image by Cassini, 2016 Planet Saturn image by Cassini, 2016 Moon Mimas (Saturn) image by Cassini, 2010 Moon Mimas (Saturn) image by Cassini, 2010 Planet Uranus by Voyager 2, 1986 Planet Uranus by Voyager 2, 1986 Moon Miranda (Uranus) image by Voyager 2, 1986 Moon Miranda (Uranus) image by Voyager 2, 1986 Planet Neptune image by Voyager 2, 1989 Planet Neptune image by Voyager 2, 1989 Dwarf planet Pluto image by New Horizons, 2015 Dwarf planet Pluto image by New Horizons, 2015 Moon Charon (Pluto) image by New Horizons, 2015 Moon Charon (Pluto) image by New Horizons, 2015 NASA Great Observatory images Helix Nebula by Spitzer Space Telescope, 2007 Helix Nebula by Spitzer Space Telescope, 2007 1901 GK Persei supernova by Chandra X-ray Observatory, 2015 1901 GK Persei supernova by Chandra X-ray Observatory, 2015 Carina Nebula by Hubble Space Telescope, 2010 Carina Nebula by Hubble Space Telescope, 2010 Stephens quintet by James Webb Space Telescope, Jul 2022 Stephens quintet by James Webb Space Telescope, Jul 2022 NASA spacecraft Comparison of Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury systems[note 3] Comparison of Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury systems[note 3] Surveyor 3, Pete Conrad, and Apollo 12 on the Moon, 1969 Surveyor 3, Pete Conrad, and Apollo 12 on the Moon, 1969 Space Shuttle Endeavor in orbit, 2008 Space Shuttle Endeavor in orbit, 2008 Hubble Space Telescope released in orbit after servicing, 2009. Hubble Space Telescope released in orbit after servicing, 2009. James Webb Space Telescope now in orbit, 2022. James Webb Space Telescope now in orbit, 2022. Opportunity rover on surface of Mars (rendering), 2003 Opportunity rover on surface of Mars (rendering), 2003 Curiosity rover self-portrait on Mars, 2021 Curiosity rover self-portrait on Mars, 2021 Perseverance rover during Mars skycrane landing, February 2021 Perseverance rover during Mars skycrane landing, February 2021 Voyager 2, now 19.5 billion kilometers from the Earth, July 2022 Voyager 2, now 19.5 billion kilometers from the Earth, July 2022 Orion spacecraft and European Service Module testing, 2020 Orion spacecraft and European Service Module testing, 2020 NASA space launch systems Saturn V and Apollo 11 at launch, Jul 1969 Saturn V and Apollo 11 at launch, Jul 1969 Titan III/Centaur launching Voyager 2 spacecraft, Jul 1977 Titan III/Centaur launching Voyager 2 spacecraft, Jul 1977 Delta II launching Spirit rover, Jun 2003 Delta II launching Spirit rover, Jun 2003 Space Shuttle (STS-124) during launch, May 2008 Space Shuttle (STS-124) during launch, May 2008 Space Launch System and Artemis 1 at launch, Nov 2022 Space Launch System and Artemis 1 at launch, Nov 2022 Concepts and plans Concept of space tug cargo transport to a Nuclear Shuttle, 1960s Concept of space tug cargo transport to a Nuclear Shuttle, 1960s Space Tug concept, 1970s Space Tug concept, 1970s NASA Interstellar probe concept, 2022 NASA Interstellar probe concept, 2022 Langley's Mars Ice Dome design for a Mars habitat, 2010s Langley's Mars Ice Dome design for a Mars habitat, 2010s Lunar Gateway space station, 2020 Lunar Gateway space station, 2020 NASA lunar outpost concept, 2006 NASA lunar outpost concept, 2006 NASA concept for crewed floating outpost on Venus, 2014 NASA concept for crewed floating outpost on Venus, 2014 NASA concept for 2069 Alpha Centauri solar sail mission NASA concept for 2069 Alpha Centauri solar sail mission See also flagUnited States portaliconPolitics portalSpaceflight portalRocketry portal List of crewed spacecraft List of NASA aircraft List of space disasters List of United States rockets Category: NASA people NASA Advanced Space Transportation Program NASA Art Program NASA Research Park – Research park near San Jose, California TechPort (NASA) – Technology Portfolio System NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Explanatory notes Orbital Sciences was awarded a CRS contract in 2008. 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Weinzierl, Matthew. "Space, the final economic frontier." Journal of Economic Perspectives 32.2 (2018): 173–92. online Archived December 31, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, review of economics literature External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to NASA. Wikiquote has quotations related to NASA. Wikisource has original text related to this article: National Aeronautics and Space Act Wikisource has original works by or about: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Wikiversity has learning resources about NASA Listen to this article (20 minutes) Duration: 19 minutes and 34 seconds.19:34 Spoken Wikipedia icon This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 1 September 2005, and does not reflect subsequent edits. (Audio help · More spoken articles) Official website Edit this at Wikidata NASA Engineering and Safety Center NASA History Division (archived March 2, 2000) Monthly look at Exploration events Archived March 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine NODIS: NASA Online Directives Information System NTRS: NASA Technical Reports Server NASA History and the Challenge of Keeping the Contemporary Past NASA podcasts NASA Watch, an agency watchdog site Works by or about NASA at Internet Archive How NASA works on howstuffworks.com vte NASA Policy and history History (creation) NACA (1915) National Aeronautics and Space Act (1958) Space Task Group (1958) Paine (1986) Rogers (1986) Ride (1987) Space Exploration Initiative (1989) Augustine (1990) U.S. National Space Policy (1996) CFUSAI (2002) CAIB (2003) Vision for Space Exploration (2004) Aldridge (2004) Augustine (2009) General Space Race Administrator and Deputy Administrator Chief Scientist Astronaut Corps Ranks and positions Chief Budget NASA research 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NISAR Europa Clipper Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Communications and navigation Near Earth Network Space Network Deep Space Network (Goldstone Madrid Canberra Space Flight Operations Facility) Deep Space Atomic Clock NASA lists Astronauts by name by year Gemini astronauts Apollo astronauts Space Shuttle crews NASA aircraft NASA missions uncrewed missions Apollo missions Space Shuttle missions United States rockets NASA cancellations NASA cameras on spacecraft NASA images and artwork Earthrise The Blue Marble Family Portrait Pale Blue Dot Pillars of Creation Mystic Mountain Solar System Family Portrait The Day the Earth Smiled Fallen Astronaut Deep fields Lunar plaques Pioneer plaques Voyager Golden Record Apollo 11 goodwill messages NASA insignia Gemini and Apollo medallions Mission patches Hubble anniversary images Related "We choose to go to the Moon" Apollo 8 Genesis reading Apollo 15 postal covers incident Space Mirror Memorial The Astronaut Monument Lunar sample displays Moon rocks stolen or missing U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Space program on U.S. stamps Apollo 17 Moon mice Moon tree Other primates in space NASA International Space Apps Challenge Astronauts Day Nikon NASA F4 Category Commons vte NASA facilities NASA Headquarters Primary 10 centers Space flight Goddard Space Flight Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory Johnson Space Center Mission Control Lunar Receiving Laboratory Lunar Sample Laboratory Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Space Environment Simulation Laboratory Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building Launch Complex 39 39A 39B Launch Control Center Central Instrumentation Facility Shuttle Landing Facility Operations and Checkout Building NASA Railroad Crawler-transporter Marshall Space Flight Center Stennis Space Center Research Ames Research Center Armstrong Flight Research Center Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center Rendezvous Docking Simulator Space Task Group Other facilities Carnarvon Tracking Station Deep Space Network Goldstone Madrid Canberra Space Flight Operations Goddard Institute for Space Studies Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility Manned Space Flight Network Michoud Assembly Facility Santa Susana Field Laboratory Scientific Balloon Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility White Sands Test Facility Related Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Mercury Control Center Major NASA space missions and programs vte Project Mercury General NASA Space Task Group Space race Space flight Mercury program capsule Missions Crewed Suborbit: Freedom 7 Liberty Bell 7 Earth orbit: Friendship 7 Aurora 7 Sigma 7 Faith 7 Cancelled: Freedom 7 II Uncrewed Little Joe 1 Big Joe 1 LJ-6 LJ-1A LJ-2 LJ-1B Beach Abort MA-1 Little Joe 5 MR-1 MR-1A MR-2 MA-2 LJ-5A MR-BD MA-3 LJ-5B MA-4 MS-1 MA-5 Flown non-human Sam Miss Sam Suborbit: Ham Earth orbit: Enos Astronauts General Mercury Seven In order of flight Suborbit: Alan Shepard Gus Grissom Earth orbit: John Glenn Scott Carpenter Wally Schirra Gordon Cooper Did not fly: Deke Slayton Equipment Navy Mark IV (space suit) Subprograms Mercury-Atlas Mercury-Redstone Mercury-Scout Mercury-Jupiter (canceled) Contractors McDonnell Aircraft Corporation (spacecraft) Convair (Atlas rocket) Chrysler (Redstone rocket) North American Aviation (Little Joe rocket) Rockets Atlas Redstone Blue Scout II Little Joe Jupiter (proposed) Launch sites and Control Center Wallops Island / Wallops Flight Facility Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 5 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 Mercury Control Center Related programs US Gemini (successor program) Apollo (lunar program) Soviet Vostok (rival in space race) Related Manned Space Flight Network Mercury spacesuit Astronaut Wives Club Mercury 13 (non-NASA project inspired by Project Mercury) vte Project Gemini Missions Uncrewed Gemini 1 2 Crewed Gemini 3 4 5 7 6A 8 9A 10 11 12 Gemini insignia Astronauts Gemini 3: Gus Grissom (command pilot), John Young (pilot) Gemini 4: James McDivitt (command pilot), Ed White (pilot) Gemini 5: Gordon Cooper (command pilot), Pete Conrad (pilot) Gemini 7: Frank Borman (command pilot), Jim Lovell (pilot) Gemini 6A: Wally Schirra (command pilot), Tom Stafford (pilot) Gemini 8: Neil Armstrong (command pilot), David Scott (pilot) Gemini 9A: Tom Stafford (command pilot), Gene Cernan (pilot) Gemini 10: John Young (command pilot), Michael Collins (pilot) Gemini 11: Pete Conrad (command pilot), Richard Gordon (pilot) Gemini 12: Jim Lovell (command pilot), Buzz Aldrin (pilot) Components Gemini spacecraft SC-2 Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System Titan rocket Gemini Guidance Computer Agena target vehicle Gemini space suit Launch sites Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 19 / Launch Complex 14 Developments Advanced Gemini Blue Gemini / Military Orbital Development System Manned Orbiting Laboratory OPS 0855 Big Gemini Related Charles Bassett Elliot See Manned Space Flight Network Rendezvous Docking Simulator 1966 NASA T-38 crash vte Apollo program List of missions canceled missions List of Apollo astronauts Launch complexes Launch Complex 34 Launch Complex 37 Launch Complex 39 A B Emblem of the Apollo program Ground facilities Mission Control Center Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Crawler-transporter Kennedy Space Center Manned Space Flight Network Launch vehicles Little Joe II Saturn Saturn I Saturn IB Saturn V Spacecraft and rover Apollo spacecraft Command and Service Module Lunar Module Lunar Roving Vehicle Flights Uncrewed AS-101 AS-102 AS-201 AS-202 Apollo 4 Apollo 5 Apollo 6† Crewed Apollo 1† Apollo 7 Apollo 8 Apollo 9 Apollo 10 Apollo 11 Apollo 12 Apollo 13† Apollo 14 Apollo 15 Apollo 16 Apollo 17 Saturn development Saturn-Apollo 1 SA-2 SA-3 SA-4 SA-5 AS-203 Apollo 4 Apollo 6† Abort tests QTV Pad Abort Test-1 A-001 A-002 A-003 Pad Abort Test-2 A-004 Pegasus flights AS-103 AS-104 AS-105 Apollo 8 specific Earthrise Genesis reading Apollo 11 specific Command Module Columbia Lunar Module Eagle Tranquility Base Goodwill messages Lunar sample displays Missing tapes Anniversaries 50th Anniversary commemorative coins In popular culture Apollo 12 specific Statio Cognitum Surveyor 3 Surveyor crater Bench Crater meteorite J002E3 Moon Museum Reports of Streptococcus mitis on the Moon Apollo 13 specific "Houston, we've had a problem" Apollo 14 specific Modular Equipment Transporter Fra Mauro formation Big Bertha Moon tree Apollo 15 specific Journey Lunar operations Solo operations Return to Earth Hadley–Apennine Fallen Astronaut Genesis Rock Great Scott Hadley Rille meteorite Seatbelt basalt Postal covers incident Apollo 16 specific Big Muley Apollo 17 specific The Blue Marble Taurus–Littrow Tracy's Rock Nansen-Apollo crater Shorty crater Lunar sample display Lunar basalt 70017 Troctolite 76535 Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, and Phooey Post-Apollo capsule use Skylab 2 3 4 Apollo–Soyuz Related Lunar orbit rendezvous Stolen and missing Moon rocks Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings Symbol † indicates failure or partial failure vte Skylab Flights Skylab 1 (uncrewed) Skylab 2 Skylab 3 Skylab 4 Skylab Astronauts Skylab 2 Pete Conrad (Commander) Joseph Kerwin (Science Pilot) Paul Weitz (Pilot) Skylab 3 Alan Bean (Commander) Owen Garriott (Science Pilot) Jack Lousma (Pilot) Skylab 4 Gerald Carr (Commander) Edward Gibson (Science Pilot) William Pogue (Pilot) Contingencies Skylab B Teleoperator Retrieval System Skylab Rescue (not flown) Skylab 5 Skylab Rescue Vance D. Brand (Commander) Don L. Lind (Pilot) People William C. Schneider (Program director) Jack Kinzler (Parasol fix designer) Raymond Loewy (Habitability consultant) Related Apollo Applications Program Apollo command and service module Apollo/Skylab spacesuit Beta cloth Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment Apollo Telescope Mount Crawler-transporter Manned Space Flight Network Skylab 4 human factors Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test (SMEAT) Wet workshop Searching for Skylab (2019 documentary) vte Space Shuttle program Space Shuttle List of missions List of crews Components Orbiter Solid Rocket Booster External tank Main engine Orbital Maneuvering System Reaction control system Thermal protection system Booster separation motor Orbiters Enterprise Columbia Challenger Discovery Atlantis Endeavour Add-ons Spacelab (ESA) Canadarm (CSA) Extended Duration Orbiter Remote Controlled Orbiter Spacehab Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Sites Launch Complex 39 A B Space Launch Complex 6 Landing sites Shuttle Landing Facility Abort landing sites Operations and training Missions (canceled) Crews Mission timeline Rollbacks Abort modes Rendezvous pitch maneuver Shuttle Mission Simulator Shuttle Training Aircraft Testing Inspiration (design) Pathfinder (simulator) MPTA (engine test article) Approach and Landing Tests Disasters Challenger disaster (report) Columbia disaster (report) Support Crawler-transporter Mate-Demate Device Mobile Launcher Platform NASA recovery ship Orbiter Processing Facility Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flights Shuttle Training Aircraft STS-3xx Special Deutschland-1 Getaway Special Journalist in Space Project Teacher in Space Project Shuttle-Mir Hitchhiker Space suits Extravehicular Mobility Unit Shuttle Ejection Escape Suit Launch Entry Suit Advanced Crew Escape Suit Experiments Freestar experiments Inflatable Antenna Experiment Spartan Packet Radio Experiment Shuttle pallet satellite Wake Shield Facility Derivatives Saturn-Shuttle Magnum Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Jupiter Shuttle-C Shuttle-Centaur Ares I IV V Liberty Space Launch System OmegA Replicas Independence Related Space Shuttle design process studied designs Inertial Upper Stage Payload Assist Module International Space Station Criticism Retirement Conroy Virtus Hail Columbia (1982 documentary) The Dream Is Alive (1985 documentary) Challenger (1990 film) Destiny in Space (1994 documentary) Columbia: The Tragic Loss (2004 documentary) Hubble (2010 documentary) The Challenger Disaster (2013 film) Challenger: The Final Flight (2020 documentary miniseries) Space Shuttle America Rendezvous: A Space Shuttle Simulation Space Shuttle Project Shuttle Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space Space Shuttle Mission 2007 Orbiter Space Flight Simulator When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions vte Artemis program List of missions astronauts Commercial Lunar Payload Services Exploration Ground Systems Gateway Logistics Services Missions Uncrewed Artemis 1 (2022) Peregrine Mission One (2024) IM-1 (2024) Blue Ghost M1 (2024) Crewed Artemis 2 (2025) Artemis 3 (2026) Artemis 4 (2028) Artemis 5 (2030) Emblem of the Artemis program Agencies NASA Australian Space Agency Canadian Space Agency European Space Agency Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency State Space Agency of Ukraine Korea Aerospace Research Institute New Zealand Space Agency Brazilian Space Agency Saudi Space Commission Facilities Cape Canaveral Space Force Station SLC-37B SLC-40 SLC-41 SLC-46 Kennedy Space Center LC-39A LC-39B Mission Control Center SpaceX Starbase Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-3E SLC-4E White Sands Missile Range Rockets Electron Falcon 9 Falcon Heavy Space Launch System Starship Vulcan Centaur Crewed spacecraft Human Landing System Starship Blue Moon Lunar Gateway Lunar Terrain Vehicle Orion Robotic spacecraft CAPSTONE HERACLES Nova-C Peregrine VIPER rover Category vte Hubble Space Telescope Current instruments Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) Previous instruments Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) Faint Object Camera (FOC) Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS/HRS) High Speed Photometer (HSP) Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC) Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) Space Shuttle missions Launch: STS-31 (1990, Discovery) Servicing: STS-61 (1993, Endeavour) STS-82 (1997, Discovery) STS-103 (1999, Discovery) STS-109 (2002, Columbia) STS-125 (2009, Atlantis) Special fields and images Pillars of Creation (1995) Hubble Deep Field (1995) Hubble Deep Field South (1998) Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (2003–04) Extended Groth Strip (2004–05) SWEEPS (2006) Mystic Mountain (2010) Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (2012) Hubble Legacy Field (2019) Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey Anniversary images List of deep fields Related Great Observatories program Space Telescope Science Institute Goddard Space Flight Center NASA Edwin Hubble Hubble (2010 documentary) Hubble Origins Probe Category Commons vte James Webb Space Telescope Timeline of JWST Instruments and sensors Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph Mid-Infrared Instrument Near-Infrared Camera Near-Infrared Spectrograph Elements Integrated Science Instrument Module Optical Telescope Element (mirrors) Spacecraft bus Sunshield Stages Launch and commissioning (2021-2022) Ariane flight VA256 Images Webb's First Deep Field (2022) Discoveries CEERS-93316 (2022) GLASS-z12 (2022) JADES-GS-z13-0 (2022) LHS 475 b (2023) AzTECC71 (2023) Institutions NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Space Telescope Science Institute European Space Agency Canadian Space Agency Related SpaceWire OTE Pathfinder James E. Webb (namesake) List of deep fields Category vte NASA Planetary Missions Program Office Discovery program Missions Main NEAR Shoemaker Mars Pathfinder Lunar Prospector Stardust Genesis CONTOUR† MESSENGER Deep Impact Dawn Kepler GRAIL InSight Lucy Psyche VERITAS DAVINCI Opportunity ASPERA-3 EPOXI NExT Moon Mineralogy Mapper Strofio MEGANE Proposals Finalists Mission 12 Comet Hopper Titan Mare Explorer Mission 13 and 14 DAVINCI NEOCam VERITAS Mission 15 and 16 Io Volcano Observer Trident Candidates Enceladus Life Finder Icebreaker Life ISOCHRON JET LIFE MANTIS Mars Geyser Hopper Moon Diver PADME Phobos Surveyor Whipple New Frontiers program Missions New Horizons Juno OSIRIS-REx Dragonfly Proposals Finalists Mission 2 MoonRise Mission 3 MoonRise SAGE Mission 4 CAESAR Candidates CONDOR CORSAIR ELF ELSAH Oceanus SPRITE VICI VISAGE VOX Solar System Exploration program Missions DART JUICE instruments Europa Clipper Underline indicates active current missions Italics indicate missions yet to launch Symbol † indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned vte Federal research and development agencies of the United States (list) Independent agencies National Science Foundation (NSF) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Smithsonian Institution research centers and programs Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Economic Research Service (ERS) United States Forest Service Research and Development (R&D) Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Defense Army Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center (CCDCSC) CCDC Armaments Center (CCDCAC) Picatinny Arsenal Benét Laboratories Watervliet Arsenal 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Eisenhower 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952) Chief of Staff of the Army (1945–1948) Commander, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (1943–1945) Military career Military career 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy Louisiana Maneuvers Operation Torch European Theater of Operations Allied invasion of Sicily June 6, 1944, order of the day People of Western Europe speech Normandy landings Operation Veritable Berlin Declaration Military Governor, U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany Disarmed Enemy Forces European Advisory Commission Supreme Commander of NATO, 1951-1952 Presidency (timeline) Transition 1953 inauguration 1957 inauguration State of the Union Address (1955 1956 1960) Cabinet Judicial appointments Supreme Court Farewell address "Military–industrial complex" Kennedy transition Executive Orders Presidential Proclamations Foreign policy Eisenhower Doctrine Korean War 1953; Korean Armistice Agreement 1953 Iranian coup d'état "Chance for Peace" speech (1953) Cold War Domino theory Khrushchev, Eisenhower and De-Stalinization New Look policy 1955 Geneva Summit 1960 U-2 incident Atomic Energy Act of 1954 Atoms for Peace Restricted Data Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 Food for Peace Suez Crisis (1956) DARPA (1958) EURATOM Cooperation Act of 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act 1958; NASA Operation 40 (1960) Domestic policy Executive Order 10479 (1953) Outer Continental Shelf Act (1953) Refugee Relief Act (1953) Submerged Lands Act (1953) U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1953) Agricultural Act of 1954 National Wool Act of 1954 Special Milk Program Excise Tax Reduction Act of 1954 Internal Revenue Code of 1954 Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 Small Watershed Program Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 Agricultural Act of 1956 Soil Bank Act Soil Bank Program Federal Voting Assistance Program (1955) Bank Holding Company Act (1956) Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 Interstate Highway System Highway Trust Fund Fish and Wildlife Act (1956) People to People Student Ambassador Program (1956) President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (1956) Civil Rights Act of 1957 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Federal Plant Pest Act of 1957 Little Rock Nine intervention (1957) Price–Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act (1957) Alaska Statehood Act (1958) Humane Slaughter Act (1958) National Defense Education Act 1958; Federal Perkins Loan Student loans in the United States Hawaii Admission Act (1959) Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 Civil Rights Act of 1960 Sikes Act (1960) Books Crusade in Europe (1948) Elections Draft Eisenhower movement Republican Party presidential primaries (1948 1952 1956) Republican National Convention (1952 1956) United States Presidential election (1952 1956) Legacy Bibliography Birthplace Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, gravesite Boyhood home Eisenhower National Historic Site Dwight D. 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Eisenhower (U.S. Capitol) Fort Eisenhower Mount Eisenhower Places named for Eisenhower Other tributes and memorials Popular culture Eisenhower jacket Eisenhower Tree Crusade in Europe (1949 television series) Backstairs at the White House (1979 miniseries) Ike (1979 miniseries) Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004 film) Pressure (2014 play) Family Mary "Mamie" Geneva Doud Eisenhower (wife) John Eisenhower (son) David Eisenhower (grandson) Anne Eisenhower (granddaughter) Susan Eisenhower (granddaughter) Mary Jean Eisenhower (granddaughter) Jennie Eisenhower (great-granddaughter) Ida Stover Eisenhower (mother) Arthur Eisenhower (brother) Edgar N. Eisenhower (brother) Roy Eisenhower (brother) Earl D. Eisenhower (brother) Milton S. Eisenhower (brother) Related Eisenhower baseball controversy Camp David "And I don't care what it is" Atoms for Peace Award Introduction to Outer Space Eddie Slovik Kay Summersby ← Harry S. Truman John F. Kennedy → Category Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata International FAST ISNI VIAF National Norway Spain France BnF data Germany Israel United States Sweden Latvia Japan Czech Republic Korea Croatia 2 Poland Portugal Academics CiNii Artists MusicBrainz Museum of Modern Art Photographers' Identities Te Papa (New Zealand) ULAN People Trove Other MusicBrainz label SNAC IdRef Categories: NASA1958 establishments in Washington, D.C.Collier Trophy recipientsGovernment agencies established in 1958Independent agencies of the United States governmentOrganizations based in Washington, D.C.Webby Award winners This page was last edited on 30 March 2024, at 00: Extraterrestrial life Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the real-life topic. For aliens in fiction, see Extraterrestrials in fiction. This article is about any kind of extraterrestrial life. For aliens with human-like intelligence, see Extraterrestrial intelligence. This article's lead section contains information that is not included elsewhere in the article. If the information is appropriate for the lead of the article, this information should also be included in the body of the article. (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Some major international efforts to search for extraterrestrial life, clockwise from top left: The search for extrasolar planets (image: Kepler telescope) Listening for extraterrestrial signals indicating intelligence (image: Allen array) Robotic exploration of the Solar System (image: Curiosity rover on Mars) Extraterrestrial life, alien life, or colloquially simply aliens is life which does not originate from Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms such as prokaryotes to intelligent beings, possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humanity.[1][2][3] The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology. Speculation about the possibility of inhabited worlds beyond Earth dates back to antiquity. Early Christian writers discussed the idea of a "plurality of worlds" as proposed by earlier thinkers such as Democritus; Augustine references Epicurus's idea of innumerable worlds "throughout the boundless immensity of space" (originally expressed in his Letter to Herodotus) in The City of God.[4] Pre-modern writers typically assumed extraterrestrial "worlds" are inhabited by living beings. William Vorilong, in the 15th century, acknowledged the possibility that Jesus could have visited extraterrestrial worlds to redeem their inhabitants.[5] Nicholas of Cusa wrote in 1440 that Earth is "a brilliant star" like other celestial objects visible in space; which would appear similar to the Sun from an exterior perspective due to a layer of "fiery brightness" in the outer layer of the atmosphere. He theorised all extraterrestrial bodies could be inhabited by men, plants, and animals, including the Sun.[6] Descartes wrote that there was no means to prove that the stars were not inhabited by "intelligent creatures", but their existence was a matter of speculation.[7] Since the mid-20th century, active research has taken place to look for signs of extraterrestrial life, encompassing searches for current and historic extraterrestrial life, and a narrower search for extraterrestrial intelligent life. Depending on the category of search, methods range from the analysis of telescope and specimen data[8] to radios used to detect and transmit communications.[citation needed] The concept of extraterrestrial life, and particularly extraterrestrial intelligence, has had a major cultural impact, especially extraterrestrials in fiction. Science fiction has communicated scientific ideas, imagined a wide range of possibilities, and influenced public interest in and perspectives on extraterrestrial life. One shared space is the debate over the wisdom of attempting communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Some encourage aggressive methods to try to contact intelligent extraterrestrial life. Others – citing the tendency of technologically advanced human societies to enslave or destroy less advanced societies – argue it may be dangerous to actively draw attention to Earth.[9][10] Context This article is one of a series on: Life in the universe Outline Planetary habitability in the Solar System VenusEarthMarsEuropaEnceladusTitan Life outside the Solar System Potentially habitable exoplanetsGalactic habitable zone Habitability of... Binary star systemsNatural satellitesNeutron star systemsRed dwarf systemsK-type main-sequence star systemsYellow dwarf systemsF-type main-sequence star systems vte If extraterrestrial life exists, it could range from simple microorganisms and multicellular organisms similar to animals or plants, to complex alien intelligences akin to humans. When scientists talk about extraterrestrial life, they consider all those types. Although it is possible that extraterrestrial life may have other configurations, scientists use the hierarchy of lifeforms from Earth for simplicity, as it is the only one known to exist.[11] According to the Big Bang interpretations, the universe as a whole was initially too hot to allow life. 15 million years later, it cooled to temperate levels, but the elements that make up living things did not exist yet. The only freely available elements at that point were hydrogen and helium. Carbon and oxygen (and later, water) would not appear until 50 million years later, created through stellar fusion. At that point, the difficulty for life to appear was not the temperature, but the scarcity of free heavy elements.[12] Planetary systems emerged, and the first organic compounds may have formed in the protoplanetary disk of dust grains that would eventually create rocky planets like Earth. Although Earth was in a molten state after its birth and may have burned any organics that fell in it, it would have been more receptive once it cooled down.[13] Once the right conditions on Earth were met, life started by a chemical process known as abiogenesis. Alternatively, life may have formed less frequently, then spread – by meteoroids, for example – between habitable planets in a process called panspermia.[14][15] There is an area around a star, the circumstellar habitable zone or "Goldilocks zone", where water may be at the right temperature to exist in liquid form at a planetary surface. This area is neither too close to the star, where water would become steam, nor too far away, where water would be frozen as a rock. However, although useful as an approximation, planetary habitability is complex and defined by several factors. Being in the habitable zone is not enough for a planet to be habitable, not even to actually have such liquid water. Venus is located in the habitable zone of the Solar System but does not have liquid water because of the conditions of its atmosphere. Jovian planets or Gas Giants are not considered habitable even if they orbit close enough to their stars as hot Jupiters, due to crushing atmospheric pressures.[16] The actual distances for the habitable zones vary according to the type of star, and even the solar activity of each specific star influences the local habitability. The type of star also defines the time the habitable zone will exist, as its presence and limits will change along with the star's stellar evolution.[17] Life on Earth is quite ubiquitous across the planet and has adapted over time to almost all the available environments in it, even the most hostile ones. As a result, it is inferred that life in other celestial bodies may be equally adaptive. However, the origin of life is unrelated to its ease of adaptation, and may have stricter requirements. A planet or moon may not have any life on it, even if it was habitable.[18] Likelihood of existence Main articles: Drake equation and Extraterrestrial intelligence It is unclear if life and intelligent life are ubiquitous in the cosmos or rare. The hypothesis of ubiquitous extraterrestrial life relies on three main ideas. The first one, the size of the universe allows for plenty of planets to have a similar habitability to Earth, and the age of the universe gives enough time for a long process analog to the history of Earth to happen there. The second is that the chemical elements that make up life, such as carbon and water, are ubiquitous in the universe. The third one is that the physical laws are universal, which means that the forces that would facilitate or prevent the existence of life would be the same ones as on Earth.[19] According to this argument, made by scientists such as Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, it would be improbable for life not to exist somewhere else other than Earth.[20][21] This argument is embodied in the Copernican principle, which states that Earth does not occupy a unique position in the Universe, and the mediocrity principle, which states that there is nothing special about life on Earth.[22] Other authors consider instead that life in the cosmos, or at least multicellular life, may be actually rare. The Rare Earth hypothesis maintains that life on Earth is possible because of a series of factors that range from the location in the galaxy and the configuration of the Solar System to local characteristics of the planet, and that it is unlikely that all such requirements are simultaneously met by another planet. The proponents of this hypothesis consider that very little evidence suggests the existence of extraterrestrial life, and that at this point it is just a desired result and not a reasonable scientific explanation for any gathered data.[23][24] In 1961, astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake devised the Drake equation as a way to stimulate scientific dialogue at a meeting on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).[25][better source needed] The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilisations in the Milky Way galaxy. The Drake equation is: = ∗ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ℓ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ {\displaystyle N=R_{\ast }\cdot f_{p}\cdot n_{e}\cdot f_{\ell }\cdot f_{i}\cdot f_{c}\cdot L} where: N = the number of Milky Way galaxy civilisations already capable of communicating across interplanetary space and R* = the average rate of star formation in our galaxy fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life fl = the fraction of planets that actually support life fi = the fraction of planets with life that evolves to become intelligent life (civilisations) fc = the fraction of civilisations that develop a technology to broadcast detectable signs of their existence into space L = the length of time over which such civilisations broadcast detectable signals into space Drake's proposed estimates are as follows, but numbers on the right side of the equation are agreed as speculative and open to substitution: 10,000 = 5 ⋅ 0.5 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 1 ⋅ 0.2 ⋅ 1 ⋅ 10,000 {\displaystyle 10{,}000=5\cdot 0.5\cdot 2\cdot 1\cdot 0.2\cdot 1\cdot 10{,}000}[26][better source needed] The Drake equation has proved controversial since, although it is written as a math equation, none of its values were known at the time. Although some values may eventually be measured, others are based on social sciences and are not knowable by their very nature.[27] This does not allow one to make noteworthy conclusions from the equation.[28] Based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, there are nearly 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.[29] It is estimated that at least ten per cent of all Sun-like stars have a system of planets,[30] i.e. there are 6.25×1018 stars with planets orbiting them in the observable universe. Even if it is assumed that only one out of a billion of these stars has planets supporting life, there would be some 6.25 billion life-supporting planetary systems in the observable universe. A 2013 study based on results from the Kepler spacecraft estimated that the Milky Way contains at least as many planets as it does stars, resulting in 100–400 billion exoplanets.[31][32] The apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilisations and the lack of evidence for such civilisations is known as the Fermi paradox.[33] Dennis W. Sciama claimed that life's existence in the universe depends on various fundamental constants. Zhi-Wei Wang and Samuel L. Braunstein suggest that without a complete understanding of these constants, one might incorrectly perceive the universe as being intelligently designed for life. This perspective challenges the view that our universe is unique in its ability to support life, giving a potential explanation to the Fermi paradox.[34] Biochemical basis Main article: Hypothetical types of biochemistry See also: Water § Effects on life The first basic requirement for life is an environment with non-equilibrium thermodynamics, which means that the thermodynamic equilibrium must be broken by a source of energy. The traditional sources of energy in the cosmos are the stars, such as for life on Earth, which depends on the energy of the sun. However, there are other alternative energy sources, such as volcanos, plate tectonics, and hydrothermal vents. There are ecosystems on Earth in deep areas of the ocean that do not receive sunlight, and take energy from black smokers instead.[35] Magnetic fields and radioactivity have also been proposed as sources of energy, although they would be less efficient ones.[36] Life on Earth requires water in a liquid state as a solvent in which biochemical reactions take place. It is highly unlikely that an abiogenesis process can start within a gaseous or solid medium: the atom speeds, either too fast or too slow, make it difficult for specific ones to meet and start chemical reactions. A liquid medium also allows the transport of nutrients and substances required for metabolism.[37] Sufficient quantities of carbon and other elements, along with water, might enable the formation of living organisms on terrestrial planets with a chemical make-up and temperature range similar to that of Earth.[38][39] Life based on ammonia rather than water has been suggested as an alternative, though this solvent appears less suitable than water. It is also conceivable that there are forms of life whose solvent is a liquid hydrocarbon, such as methane, ethane or propane.[40] Another unknown aspect of potential extraterrestrial life would be the chemical elements that would compose it. Life on Earth is largely composed of carbon, but there could be other hypothetical types of biochemistry. A potential replacement for carbon should be able to create complex molecules, store information required for evolution, and be freely available in the medium. To create DNA, RNA, or a close analog, such an element should be able to bind its atoms with many others, creating complex and stable molecules. It should be able to create at least three covalent bonds; two for making long strings and at least a third to add new links and allow for diverse information. Only nine elements meet this requirement: boron, nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony (three bonds), carbon, silicon, germanium and tin (four bonds). As for abundance, carbon, nitrogen, and silicon are the most abundant ones in the universe, far more than the others. On Earth's crust the most abundant of those elements is silicon, in the Hydrosphere it is carbon and in the atmosphere, it is carbon and nitrogen. Silicon, however, has disadvantages over carbon. The molecules formed with silicon atoms are less stable, and more vulnerable to acids, oxygen, and light. An ecosystem of silicon-based lifeforms would require very low temperatures, high atmospheric pressure, an atmosphere devoid of oxygen, and a solvent other than water. The low temperatures required would add an extra problem, the difficulty to kickstart a process of abiogenesis to create life in the first place.[41] Even if extraterrestrial life is based on carbon and uses water as a solvent, like Earth life, it may still have a radically different biochemistry. Life on Earth started with an RNA world and later evolved to its current form, where some of the RNA tasks were transferred to the DNA and proteins. Extraterrestrial life may still be stuck on the RNA world, or evolve into other configurations. It is unclear if our biochemistry is the most efficient one that could be generated, or which elements would follow a similar pattern.[42] However, it is likely that, even if cells had a different composition to those from Earth, they would still have a cell membrane. Life on Earth jumped from prokaryotes to eukaryotes and from unicellular organisms to multicellular organisms through evolution. So far no alternative process to achieve such a result has been conceived, even if hypothetical. Evolution requires life to be divided into individual organisms, and no alternative organisation has been satisfactorily proposed either. At the basic level, membranes define the limit of a cell, between it and its environment, while remaining partially open to exchange energy and resources with it.[43] The evolution from simple cells to eukaryotes, and from them to multicellular lifeforms, is not guaranteed. The Cambrian explosion took place thousands of millions of years after the origin of life, and its causes are not fully known yet. On the other hand, the jump to multicellularity took place several times, which suggests that it could be a case of convergent evolution, and so likely to take place on other planets as well. Palaeontologist Simon Conway Morris considers that convergent evolution would lead to kingdoms similar to our plants and animals, and that many features are likely to develop in alien animals as well, such as bilateral symmetry, limbs, digestive systems and heads with sensory organs.[44] Scientists from the University of Oxford analysed it from the perspective of evolutionary theory and wrote in a study in the International Journal of Astrobiology that aliens may be similar to humans.[45] The planetary context would also have an influence: a planet with higher gravity would have smaller animals, and other types of stars can lead to non-green photosynthesisers. The amount of energy available would also affect biodiversity, as an ecosystem sustained by black smokers or hydrothermal vents would have less energy available than those sustained by a star's light and heat, and so its lifeforms would not grow beyond a certain complexity.[44] There is also research in assessing the capacity of life for developing intelligence. It has been suggested that this capacity arises with the number of potential niches a planet contains, and that the complexity of life itself is reflected in the information density of planetary environments, which in turn can be computed from its niches.[46] Planetary habitability in the Solar System Main article: Planetary habitability in the Solar System Besides Earth, Mars, Europa and Enceladus are the most likely places in the Solar System to find life. The Solar System has a wide variety of planets, dwarf planets, and moons, and each one is studied for its potential to host life. Each one has its own specific conditions that may benefit or harm life. So far, the only lifeforms found are those from Earth. No extraterrestrial intelligence other than humans exists or has ever existed within the Solar System.[47] Astrobiologist Mary Voytek points out that it would be unlikely to find large ecosystems, as they would have already been detected by now.[16] The inner Solar System is likely devoid of life. However, Venus is still of interest to astrobiologists, as it is a terrestrial planet that was likely similar to Earth in its early stages and developed in a different way. There is a greenhouse effect, the surface is the hottest in the Solar System, sulfuric acid clouds, all surface liquid water is lost, and it has a thick carbon-dioxide atmosphere with huge pressure.[48] Comparing both helps to understand the precise differences that lead to beneficial or harmful conditions for life. And despite the conditions against life on Venus, there are suspicions that microbial lifeforms may still survive in high-altitude clouds.[16] Mars is a cold and almost airless desert, inhospitable to life. However, recent studies revealed that water on Mars used to be quite abundant, forming rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans. Mars may have been habitable back then, and life on Mars may have been possible. But when the planetary core ceased to generate a magnetic field, solar winds removed the atmosphere and the planet became vulnerable to solar radiation. Ancient lifeforms may still have left fossilised remains, and microbes may still survive deep underground.[16] As mentioned, the gas giants and ice giants are unlikely to contain life. The most distant solar system bodies, found in the Kuiper Belt and outwards, are locked in permanent deep-freeze, but cannot be ruled out completely.[16] Although the giant planets themselves are highly unlikely to have life, there is much hope to find it on moons orbiting these planets. Europa, from the Jovian system, has a subsurface ocean below a thick layer of ice. Ganymede and Callisto also have subsurface oceans, but life is less likely in them because water is sandwiched between layers of solid ice. Europa would have contact between the ocean and the rocky surface, which helps the chemical reactions. It may be difficult to dig so deep in order to study those oceans, though. Enceladus, a tiny moon of Saturn with another subsurface ocean, may not need to be dug, as it releases water to space in eruption columns. The space probe Cassini flew inside one of these, but could not make a full study because NASA did not expect this phenomenon and did not equip the probe to study ocean water. Still, Cassini detected complex organic molecules, salts, evidence of hydrothermal activity, hydrogen, and methane.[16] Titan is the only celestial body in the Solar System besides Earth that has liquid bodies on the surface. It has rivers, lakes, and rain of hydrocarbons, methane, and ethane, and even a cycle similar to Earth's water cycle. This special context encourages speculations about lifeforms with different biochemistry, but the cold temperatures would make such chemistry take place at a very slow pace. Water is rock-solid on the surface, but Titan does have subsurface water ocean like several other moons. However, it is of such a great depth that it would be very difficult to access it for study.[16] Scientific search Main article: Astrobiology The science that searches and studies life in the universe, both on Earth and elsewhere, is called astrobiology. With the study of Earth's life, the only known form of life, astrobiology seeks to study how life starts and evolves and the requirements for its continuous existence. This helps to determine what to look for when searching for life in other celestial bodies. This is a complex area of study, and uses the combined perspectives of several scientific disciplines, such as astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, oceanography, and atmospheric sciences.[49] The scientific search for extraterrestrial life is being carried out both directly and indirectly. As of September 2017, 3,667 exoplanets in 2,747 systems have been identified, and other planets and moons in the Solar System hold the potential for hosting primitive life such as microorganisms. As of 8 February 2021, an updated status of studies considering the possible detection of lifeforms on Venus (via phosphine) and Mars (via methane) was reported.[50] Search for basic life Lifeforms produce a variety of biosignatures that may be detectable by telescopes.[51][52] Scientists search for biosignatures within the Solar System by studying planetary surfaces and examining meteorites. Some claim to have identified evidence that microbial life has existed on Mars.[53][54][55][56] In 1996, a controversial report stated that structures resembling nanobacteria were discovered in a meteorite, ALH84001, formed of rock ejected from Mars.[53][54] Although all the unusual properties of the meteorite were eventually explained as the result of inorganic processes, the controversy over its discovery laid the groundwork for the development of astrobiology.[53] An experiment on the two Viking Mars landers reported gas emissions from heated Martian soil samples that some scientists argue are consistent with the presence of living microorganisms.[57] Lack of corroborating evidence from other experiments on the same samples suggests that a non-biological reaction is a more likely hypothesis.[57][58][59][60] In February 2005 NASA scientists reported they may have found some evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars.[61] The two scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA's Ames Research Center, based their claim on methane signatures found in Mars's atmosphere resembling the methane production of some forms of primitive life on Earth, as well as on their own study of primitive life near the Rio Tinto river in Spain. NASA officials soon distanced NASA from the scientists' claims, and Stoker herself backed off from her initial assertions.[62] In November 2011, NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory that landed the Curiosity rover on Mars. It is designed to assess the past and present habitability on Mars using a variety of scientific instruments. The rover landed on Mars at Gale Crater in August 2012.[63][64] A group of scientists at Cornell University started a catalog of microorganisms, with the way each one reacts to sunlight. The goal is to help with the search for similar organisms in exoplanets, as the starlight reflected by planets rich in such organisms would have a specific spectrum, unlike that of starlight reflected from lifeless planets. If Earth was studied from afar with this system, it would reveal a shade of green, as a result of the abundance of plants with photosynthesis.[65] In August 2011, NASA studied meteorites found on Antarctica, finding adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine and xanthine. Adenine and guanine are components of DNA, and the others are used in other biological processes. The studies ruled out pollution of the meteorites on Earth, as those components would not be freely available the way they were found in the samples. This discovery suggests that several organic molecules that serve as building blocks of life may be generated within asteroids and comets.[66][67] In October 2011, scientists reported that cosmic dust contains complex organic compounds ("amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure") that could be created naturally, and rapidly, by stars.[68][69][70] It is still unclear if those compounds played a role in the creation of life on Earth, but Sun Kwok, of the University of Hong Kong, thinks so. "If this is the case, life on Earth may have had an easier time getting started as these organics can serve as basic ingredients for life."[68] In August 2012, and in a world first, astronomers at Copenhagen University reported the detection of a specific sugar molecule, glycolaldehyde, in a distant star system. The molecule was found around the protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422, which is located 400 light years from Earth.[71] Glycolaldehyde is needed to form ribonucleic acid, or RNA, which is similar in function to DNA. This finding suggests that complex organic molecules may form in stellar systems prior to the formation of planets, eventually arriving on young planets early in their formation.[72] In December 2023, astronomers reported the first time discovery, in the plumes of Enceladus, moon of the planet Saturn, of hydrogen cyanide, a possible chemical essential for life[73] as we know it, as well as other organic molecules, some of which are yet to be better identified and understood. According to the researchers, "these [newly discovered] compounds could potentially support extant microbial communities or drive complex organic synthesis leading to the origin of life."[74][75] Search for extraterrestrial intelligences Main article: Search for extraterrestrial intelligence The Green Bank Telescope is one of the radio telescopes used by the Breakthrough Listen project to search for alien communications. Although most searches are focused on the biology of extraterrestrial life, an extraterrestrial intelligence capable enough to develop a civilization may be detectable by other means as well. Technology may generate technosignatures, effects on the native planet that may not be caused by natural causes. There are three main types of technosignatures considered: interstellar communications, effects on the atmosphere, and planetary-sized structures such as Dyson spheres.[76] Organizations such as the SETI Institute search the cosmos for potential forms of communication. They started with radio waves, and now search for laser pulses as well. The challenge for this search is that there are natural sources of such signals as well, such as gamma-ray bursts and supernovae, and the difference between a natural signal and an artificial one would be in its specific patterns. Astronomers intend to use artificial intelligence for this, as it can manage large amounts of data and is devoid of biases and preconceptions.[76] Besides, even if there is an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, there is no guarantee that it is transmitting radio communications in the direction of Earth. The length of time required for a signal to travel across space means that a potential answer may arrive decades or centuries after the initial message.[77] The atmosphere of Earth is rich in nitrogen dioxide as a result of air pollution, which can be detectable. The natural abundance of carbon, which is also relatively reactive, makes it likely to be a basic component of the development of a potential extraterrestrial technological civilization, as it is on Earth. Fossil fuels may likely be generated and used on such worlds as well. The abundance of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere can also be a clear technosignature, considering their role in ozone depletion. Light pollution may be another technosignature, as multiple lights on the night side of a rocky planet can be a sign of advanced technological development. However, modern telescopes are not strong enough to study exoplanets with the required level of detail to perceive it.[76] The Kardashev scale proposes that a civilization may eventually start consuming energy directly from its local star. This would require giant structures built next to it, called Dyson spheres. Those speculative structures would cause an excess infrared radiation, that telescopes may notice. The infrared radiation is typical of young stars, surrounded by dusty protoplanetary disks that will eventually form planets. An older star such as the Sun would have no natural reason to have excess infrared radiation.[76] The presence of heavy elements in a star's light-spectrum is another potential biosignature; such elements would (in theory) be found if the star were being used as an incinerator/repository for nuclear waste products.[78] Extrasolar planets Main article: Exoplanet See also: List of potentially habitable exoplanets Artist's impression of Gliese 581 c, the first terrestrial extrasolar planet discovered within its star's habitable zone Some astronomers search for extrasolar planets that may be conducive to life, narrowing the search to terrestrial planets within the habitable zones of their stars.[79][80] Since 1992, over four thousand exoplanets have been discovered (5,640 planets in 4,155 planetary systems including 895 multiple planetary systems as of 1 March 2024).[81] The extrasolar planets so far discovered range in size from that of terrestrial planets similar to Earth's size to that of gas giants larger than Jupiter.[81] The number of observed exoplanets is expected to increase greatly in the coming years.[82][better source needed] The Kepler space telescope has also detected a few thousand[83][84] candidate planets,[85][86] of which about 11% may be false positives.[87] There is at least one planet on average per star.[88] About 1 in 5 Sun-like stars[a] have an "Earth-sized"[b] planet in the habitable zone,[c] with the nearest expected to be within 12 light-years distance from Earth.[89][90] Assuming 200 billion stars in the Milky Way,[d] that would be 11 billion potentially habitable Earth-sized planets in the Milky Way, rising to 40 billion if red dwarfs are included.[91] The rogue planets in the Milky Way possibly number in the trillions.[92] The nearest known exoplanet is Proxima Centauri b, located 4.2 light-years (1.3 pc) from Earth in the southern constellation of Centaurus.[93] As of March 2014, the least massive exoplanet known is PSR B1257+12 A, which is about twice the mass of the Moon. The most massive planet listed on the NASA Exoplanet Archive is DENIS-P J082303.1−491201 b,[94][95] about 29 times the mass of Jupiter, although according to most definitions of a planet, it is too massive to be a planet and may be a brown dwarf instead. Almost all of the planets detected so far are within the Milky Way, but there have also been a few possible detections of extragalactic planets. The study of planetary habitability also considers a wide range of other factors in determining the suitability of a planet for hosting life.[8] One sign that a planet probably already contains life is the presence of an atmosphere with significant amounts of oxygen, since that gas is highly reactive and generally would not last long without constant replenishment. This replenishment occurs on Earth through photosynthetic organisms. One way to analyse the atmosphere of an exoplanet is through spectrography when it transits its star, though this might only be feasible with dim stars like white dwarfs.[96] History and cultural impact See also: History of astronomy and Potential cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact Cosmic pluralism Main article: Cosmic pluralism The Greek Epicurus proposed that other worlds may have their own animals and plants. The modern concept of extraterrestrial life is based on assumptions that were not commonplace during the early days of astronomy. The first explanations for the celestial objects seen in the night sky were based on mythology. The Greek scholars from Ancient Greece were the first to consider that the universe is inherently understandable and rejected explanations based on supernatural incomprehensible forces, such as the myth of the Sun being pulled across the sky in the chariot of Apollo. They had not developed the scientific method yet and based their ideas on pure thought and speculation, but they developed precursor ideas to it, such as that explanations had to be discarded if they contradict observable facts. The discussions of those Greek scholars established many of the pillars that would eventually lead to the idea of extraterrestrial life, such as Earth being round and not flat. The cosmos was first structured in a geocentric model that considered that the sun and all other celestial bodies revolve around Earth. However, they did not consider them as worlds. In Greek understanding, the world was composed by both Earth and the celestial objects with noticeable movements. Anaximander thought that the cosmos was made from apeiron, a substance that created the world, and that the world would eventually return to the cosmos. Eventually two groups emerged, the atomists that thought that matter at both Earth and the cosmos was equally made of small atoms of the classical elements (earth, water, fire and air), and the Aristotelians who thought that those elements were exclusive of Earth and that the cosmos was made of a fifth one, the aether. Atomist Epicurus thought that the processes that created the world, its animals and plants should have created other worlds elsewhere, along with their own animals and plants. Aristotle thought instead that all the earth element naturally fell towards the center of the universe, and that would made it impossible for other planets to exist elsewhere. Under that reasoning, Earth was not only in the center, it was also the only planet in the universe.[97] Cosmic pluralism, the plurality of worlds, or simply pluralism, describes the philosophical belief in numerous "worlds" in addition to Earth, which might harbor extraterrestrial life. The earliest recorded assertion of extraterrestrial human life is found in ancient scriptures of Jainism. There are multiple "worlds" mentioned in Jain scriptures that support human life. These include, among others, Bharat Kshetra, Mahavideh Kshetra, Airavat Kshetra, and Hari kshetra.[98][99][100] Medieval Muslim writers like Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Muhammad al-Baqir supported cosmic pluralism on the basis of the Qur'an.[101] Chaucer's poem The House of Fame engaged in medieval thought experiments that postulated the plurality of worlds.[102] However, those ideas about other worlds were different from the current knowledge about the structure of the universe, and did not postulate the existence of planetary systems other than the Solar System. When those authors talk about other worlds, they talk about places located at the center of their own systems, and with their own stellar vaults and cosmos surrounding them.[103] The Greek ideas and the disputes between atomists and Aristotelians outlived the fall of the Greek empire. The Great Library of Alexandria compiled information about it, part of which was translated by Islamic scholars and thus survived the end of the Library. Baghdad combined the knowledge of the Greeks, the Indians, the Chinese and its own scholars, and the knowledge expanded through the Byzantine Empire. From there it eventually returned to Europe by the time of the Middle Ages. However, as the Greek atomist doctrine held that the world was created by random movements of atoms, with no need for a creator deity, it became associated with atheism, and the dispute intertwined with religious ones.[104] Still, the Church did not react to those topics in a homogeneous way, and there were stricter and more permissive views within the church itself.[105] The first known mention of the term 'panspermia' was in the writings of the 5th-century BC Greek philosopher Anaxagoras. He proposed the idea that life exists everywhere.[106] Early modern period Galileo before the Holy Office, a 19th-century painting by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury By the time of the late Middle Ages there were many known inaccuracies in the geocentric model, but it was kept in use because naked eye observations provided limited data. Nicolaus Copernicus started the Copernican Revolution by proposing that the planets spin around the sun rather than Earth. His proposal had little acceptance at first because, as he kept the assumption that orbits were perfect circles, his model led to as many inaccuracies as the geocentric one. Tycho Brahe improved the available data with naked-eye observatories, which worked with highly complex sextants and quadrants. Tycho could not make sense of his observations, but Johannes Kepler did: orbits were not perfect circles, but ellipses. This knowledge benefited the Copernican model, which worked now almost perfectly. The invention of the telescope a short time later, perfected by Galileo Galilei, clarified the final doubts, and the paradigm shift was completed.[107] Under this new understanding, the notion of extraterrestrial life became feasible: if Earth is but just a planet orbiting around a star, there may be planets similar to Earth elsewhere. The astronomical study of distant bodies also proved that physical laws are the same elsewhere in the universe as on Earth, with nothing making the planet truly special.[108] The new ideas were met with resistance from the Catholic church. Galileo was trialed for the heliocentric model, which was considered heretical, and forced to recant it.[109] The best-known early-modern proponent of ideas of extraterrestrial life was the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, who argued in the 16th century for an infinite universe in which every star is surrounded by its own planetary system. Bruno wrote that other worlds "have no less virtue nor a nature different to that of our earth" and, like Earth, "contain animals and inhabitants".[110] Bruno's belief in the plurality of worlds was one of the charges leveled against him by the Venetian Holy Inquisition, which trialed and executed him.[111] The heliocentric model was further strengthened by the postulation of the theory of gravity by Sir Isaac Newton. This theory provided the mathematics that explains the motions of all things in the universe, including planetary orbits. By this point, the geocentric model was definitely discarded. By this time, the use of the scientific method had become a standard, and new discoveries were expected to provide evidence and rigorous mathematical explanations. Science also took a deeper interest in the mechanics of natural phenomena, trying to explain not just the way nature works but also the reasons for working that way.[112] There was very little actual discussion about extraterrestrial life before this point, as the Aristotlean ideas remained influential while geocentrism was still accepted. When it was finally proved wrong, it not only meant that Earth was not the center of the universe, but also that the lights seen in the sky were not just lights, but physical objects. The notion that life may exist in them as well soon became an ongoing topic of discussion, although one with no practical ways to investigate.[113] The possibility of extraterrestrials remained a widespread speculation as scientific discovery accelerated. William Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus, was one of many 18th–19th-century astronomers who believed that the Solar System is populated by alien life. Other scholars of the period who championed "cosmic pluralism" included Immanuel Kant and Benjamin Franklin. At the height of the Enlightenment, even the Sun and Moon were considered candidates for extraterrestrial inhabitants.[citation needed] 19th century Artificial Martian channels, depicted by Percival Lowell Speculation about life on Mars increased in the late 19th century, following telescopic observation of apparent Martian canals – which soon, however, turned out to be optical illusions.[114] Despite this, in 1895, American astronomer Percival Lowell published his book Mars, followed by Mars and its Canals in 1906, proposing that the canals were the work of a long-gone civilisation.[115] The idea of life on Mars led British writer H. G. Wells to write the novel The War of the Worlds in 1897, telling of an invasion by aliens from Mars who were fleeing the planet's desiccation.[citation needed] Spectroscopic analysis of Mars's atmosphere began in earnest in 1894, when U.S. astronomer William Wallace Campbell showed that neither water nor oxygen was present in the Martian atmosphere.[116] By 1909 better telescopes and the best perihelic opposition of Mars since 1877 conclusively put an end to the canal hypothesis.[citation needed] As a consequence of the belief in the spontaneous generation there was little thought about the conditions of each celestial body: it was simply assumed that life would thrive anywhere. This theory was disproved by Louis Pasteur in the 19th century. Popular belief in thriving alien civilisations elsewhere in the solar system still remained strong until Mariner 4 and Mariner 9 provided close images of Mars, which debunked forever the idea of the existence of Martians and decreased the previous expectations of finding alien life in general.[117] The end of the spontaneous generation belief forced to investigate the origin of life. Although abiogenesis is the more accepted theory, a number of authors reclaimed the term "panspermia" and proposed that life was brought to Earth from elsewhere.[106] Some of those authors are Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1834),[118] Kelvin (1871),[119] Hermann von Helmholtz (1879)[120] and, somewhat later, by Svante Arrhenius (1903).[121] The science fiction genre, although not so named during the time, developed during the late 19th century. The expansion of the genre of extraterrestrials in fiction influenced the popular perception over the real-life topic, making people eager to jump to conclusions about the discovery of aliens. Science marched at a slower pace, some discoveries fueled expectations and others dashed excessive hopes. For example, with the advent of telescopes, most structures seen on the Moon or Mars were immediately attributed to Selenites or Martians, and later ones (such as more powerful telescopes) revealed that all such discoveries were natural features.[111] A famous case is the Cydonia region of Mars, first imagined by the Viking 1 orbiter. The low-resolution photos showed a rock formation that resembled a human face, but later spacecraft took photos in higher detail that showed that there was nothing special about the site.[122] Recent history See also: Space exploration The Arecibo message is a digital message sent to Messier 13, and is a well-known symbol of human attempts to contact extraterrestrials. The search and study of extraterrestrial life became a science of its own, astrobiology. Also known as exobiology, this discipline is studied by the NASA, the ESA, the INAF, and others. Astrobiology studies life from Earth as well, but with a cosmic perspective. For example, abiogenesis is of interest to astrobiology, not because of the origin of life on Earth, but for the chances of a similar process taking place in other celestial bodies. Many aspects of life, from its definition to its chemistry, are analyzed as either likely to be similar in all forms of life across the cosmos or only native to Earth.[123] Astrobiology, however, remains constrained by the current lack of extraterrestrial lifeforms to study, as all life on Earth comes from the same ancestor, and it is hard to infer general characteristics from a group with a single example to analyse.[124] The 20th century came with great technological advances, speculations about future hypothetical technologies, and an increased basic knowledge of science by the general population thanks to science divulgation through the mass media. The public interest in extraterrestrial life and the lack of discoveries by mainstream science led to the emergence of pseudosciences that provided affirmative, if questionable, answers to the existence of aliens. Ufology claims that many unidentified flying objects (UFOs) would be spaceships from alien species, and ancient astronauts hypothesis claim that aliens would have visited Earth in antiquity and prehistoric times but people would have failed to understand it by then.[125] Most UFOs or UFO sightings[126] can be readily explained as sightings of Earth-based aircraft (including top-secret aircraft), known astronomical objects or weather phenomenons, or as hoaxes.[127] By the 21st century, it was accepted that multicellular life in the Solar System can only exist on Earth, but the interest in extraterrestrial life increased regardless. This is a result of the advances in several sciences. The knowledge of planetary habitability allows to consider on scientific terms the likelihood of finding life at each specific celestial body, as it is known which features are beneficial and harmful for life. Astronomy and telescopes also improved to the point exoplanets can be confirmed and even studied, increasing the number of search places. Life may still exist elsewhere in the Solar System in unicellular form, but the advances in spacecraft allow to send robots to study samples in situ, with tools of growing complexity and reliability. Although no extraterrestrial life has been found and life may still be just a rarity from Earth, there are scientific reasons to suspect that it can exist elsewhere, and technological advances that may detect it if it does.[128] Many scientists are optimistic about the chances of finding alien life. In the words of SETI's Frank Drake, "All we know for sure is that the sky is not littered with powerful microwave transmitters".[129] Drake noted that it is entirely possible that advanced technology results in communication being carried out in some way other than conventional radio transmission. At the same time, the data returned by space probes, and giant strides in detection methods, have allowed science to begin delineating habitability criteria on other worlds, and to confirm that at least other planets are plentiful, though aliens remain a question mark. The Wow! signal, detected in 1977 by a SETI project, remains a subject of speculative debate.[citation needed] The Wow! signal represented as "6EQUJ5". The original printout with Ehman's handwritten exclamation is preserved by Ohio History Connection. It was pointed towards the Proxima Centauri system. The signal was used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.[130] On the other hand, other scientists are pessimistic. Jacques Monod wrote that "Man knows at last that he is alone in the indifferent immensity of the universe, whence which he has emerged by chance".[131] In 2000, geologist and paleontologist Peter Ward and astrobiologist Donald Brownlee published a book entitled Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe.[132][better source needed] In it, they discussed the Rare Earth hypothesis, in which they claim that Earth-like life is rare in the universe, whereas microbial life is common. Ward and Brownlee are open to the idea of evolution on other planets that is not based on essential Earth-like characteristics such as DNA and carbon. As for the possible risks, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking warned in 2010 that humans should not try to contact alien life forms. He warned that aliens might pillage Earth for resources. "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans", he said.[133] Jared Diamond had earlier expressed similar concerns.[134] On 20 July 2015, Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, along with the SETI Institute, announced a well-funded effort, called the Breakthrough Initiatives, to expand efforts to search for extraterrestrial life. The group contracted the services of the 100-meter Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia in the United States and the 64-meter Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia.[135] On 13 February 2015, scientists (including Geoffrey Marcy, Seth Shostak, Frank Drake and David Brin) at a convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, discussed Active SETI and whether transmitting a message to possible intelligent extraterrestrials in the Cosmos was a good idea;[136][137] one result was a statement, signed by many, that a "worldwide scientific, political and humanitarian discussion must occur before any message is sent".[138] In fiction Main article: Extraterrestrials in fiction Grey aliens are a common way to depict extraterrestrials in fiction. Although the idea of extraterrestrial peoples became feasible once astronomy developed enough to understand the nature of planets, they were not thought of as being any different from humans. Having no scientific explanation for the origin of mankind and its relation to other species, there was no reason to expect them to be any other way. This was changed by the 1859 book On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, which proposed the theory of evolution. Now with the notion that evolution on other planets may take other directions, science fiction authors created bizarre aliens, clearly distinct from humans. A usual way to do that was to add body features from other animals, such as insects or octopuses. Budget reasons forced to tone down the fantasy in films and TV series, as actor costuming and special effects placed limits on their feasibility. Bizarre aliens became feasible since the 1990s with the advent of computer-generated imagery (CGI), and later on as CGI became more effective and less expensive.[139] Real-life events sometimes captivate people's imagination and this influences the works of fiction. For example, during the Barney and Betty Hill incident, the first recorded claim of an alien abduction, the couple reported that they were abducted and experimented on by aliens with oversized heads, big eyes, pale grey skin, and small noses, a description that eventually became the grey alien archetype once used in works of fiction.[139] Government responses See also: Planetary protection The 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the 1979 Moon Agreement define rules of planetary protection against potentially hazardous extraterrestrial life. COSPAR also provides guidelines for planetary protection.[140] A committee of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs had in 1977 discussed for a year strategies for interacting with extraterrestrial life or intelligence. The discussion ended without any conclusions. As of 2010, the UN lacks response mechanisms for the case of an extraterrestrial contact.[141] One of the NASA divisions is the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA), also known as the Planetary Protection Office. A part of its mission is to "rigorously preclude backward contamination of Earth by extraterrestrial life."[142] In 2016, the Chinese Government released a white paper detailing its space program. According to the document, one of the research objectives of the program is the search for extraterrestrial life.[143] It is also one of the objectives of the Chinese Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) program.[144] In 2020, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, said the search for extraterrestrial life is one of the main goals of deep space research. He also acknowledged the possibility of existence of primitive life on other planets of the Solar System.[145] The French space agency has an office for the study of "non-identified aero spatial phenomena".[146][147] The agency is maintaining a publicly accessible database of such phenomena, with over 1600 detailed entries. According to the head of the office, the vast majority of entries have a mundane explanation; but for 25% of entries, their extraterrestrial origin can neither be confirmed nor denied.[146] In 2020, chairman of the Israel Space Agency Isaac Ben-Israel stated that the probability of detecting life in outer space is "quite large". But he disagrees with his former colleague Haim Eshed who stated that there are contacts between an advanced alien civilisation and some of Earth's governments.[148] See also Assembly theory Carbon chauvinism First contact (anthropology) Hemolithin Hypothetical types of biochemistry Outline of extraterrestrial life Quiet and loud aliens Sentiocentrism Speciesism Uncontacted peoples Notes For the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, "Sun-like" means G-type star. Data for Sun-like stars wasn't available so this statistic is an extrapolation from data about K-type stars For the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, Earth-sized means 1–2 Earth radii For the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, "habitable zone" means the region with 0.25 to 4 times Earth's stellar flux (corresponding to 0.5–2 AU for the Sun). About 1/4 of stars are GK Sun-like stars. 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"Рогозин допустил существование жизни на Марсе и других планетах Солнечной системы". ТАСС. "France opens up its UFO files". New Scientist. 22 March 2007. Bockman, Chris (4 November 2014). "Why the French state has a team of UFO hunters". BBC News. Jeffay, Nathan (10 December 2020). "Israeli space chief says aliens may well exist, but they haven't met humans". The Times of Israel. Further reading Aguilera Mochón, Juan Antonio (2016). La vida no terrestre [The non-terrestrial life] (in Spanish). RBA. ISBN 978-84-473-8665-9. Baird, John C. (1987). The Inner Limits of Outer Space: A Psychologist Critiques Our Efforts to Communicate With Extraterrestrial Beings. Hanover: University Press of New England. ISBN 978-0-87451-406-3. Bennett, Jeffrey (2017). Life in the universe. United States: Pearson. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-0-13-408908-9. Cohen, Jack; Stewart, Ian (2002). Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-187927-3. Crowe, Michael J. (1986). The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750–1900. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-26305-4. Crowe, Michael J. (2008). The extraterrestrial life debate Antiquity to 1915: A Source Book. University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 978-0-268-02368-3. Dick, Steven J. (1984). Plurality of Worlds: The Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democratis to Kant. Cambridge. Dick, Steven J. (1996). The Biological Universe: The Twentieth Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Limits of Science. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-34326-8. Dick, Steven J. (2001). Life on Other Worlds: The 20th Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-79912-6. Dick, Steven J.; Strick, James E. (2004). The Living Universe: NASA And the Development of Astrobiology. Rutgers. ISBN 978-0-8135-3447-3. Fasan, Ernst (1970). Relations with alien intelligences – the scientific basis of metalaw. Berlin: Berlin Verlag. Goldsmith, Donald (1997). The Hunt for Life on Mars. New York: A Dutton Book. ISBN 978-0-525-94336-5. Gribbin, John, "Alone in the Milky Way: Why we are probably the only intelligent life in the galaxy", Scientific American, vol. 319, no. 3 (September 2018), pp. 94–99. Grinspoon, David (2003). Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-018540-4. Lemnick, Michael T. (1998). Other Worlds: The Search for Life in the Universe. New York: A Touchstone Book. Bibcode:1998owsl.book.....L. Michaud, Michael (2006). Contact with Alien Civilizations – Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-28598-6. Pickover, Cliff (2003). The Science of Aliens. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-07315-3. Roth, Christopher F. (2005). Debbora Battaglia (ed.). Ufology as Anthropology: Race, Extraterrestrials, and the Occult. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) Sagan, Carl; Shklovskii, I. S. (1966). Intelligent Life in the Universe. Random House. Sagan, Carl (1973). Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-19106-7. Ward, Peter D. (2005). Life as we do not know it-the NASA search for (and synthesis of) alien life. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-03458-1. Tumminia, Diana G. (2007). Alien Worlds – Social and Religious Dimensions of Extraterrestrial Contact. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0858-5. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Extraterrestrial life. Wikiquote has quotations related to Extraterrestrial life. 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astronautsAstrobiologyAstroecologyBiosignatureBrookings ReportExotheologyExtraterrestrials in fictionExtremophileHemolithinMERMOZNexus for Exoplanet System ScienceNoogenesisPlanetary protectionPotential cultural impact of extraterrestrial contactPost-detection policySan Marino ScaleTechnosignatureUFO religionXenoarchaeology vte Astrobiology Disciplines AstrochemistryAstrophysicsAtmospheric sciencesBiochemistryEvolutionary biologyExoplanetologyGeomicrobiologyMicrobiologyPaleontologyPlanetary oceanographyPlanetary science Main topics AbiogenesisAllan Hills 84001BiomoleculeBiosignatureDrake equationEarliest known life formsEarth analogExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial sample curationExtremophilesHypothetical types of biochemistryList of microorganisms tested in outer spaceOcean planetPanspermiaPlanetary protectionSearch for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)Yamato meteorite Planetary habitability Circumstellar habitable zoneEarth analogExtraterrestrial liquid waterGalactic habitable zoneHabitability of binary star systemsHabitability of natural satellitesHabitability of neutron star systemsHabitability of red dwarf systemsHabitability of K-type main-sequence star systemsHabitability of yellow dwarf systemsHabitability of F-type main-sequence star systemsList of potentially habitable exoplanetsTholinSuperhabitable planet Space missions Earth orbit BIOBIOCOREBiolabBionBIOPANBiosatellite programE-MISTERAEu:CROPISEXOSTACKEXPOSELunar Micro EcosystemO/OREOSOREOcubeTanpopoVEGGIE Mars Beagle 2Fobos-GruntMars Science Laboratory Curiosity roverMars 2020 Perseverance roverPhoenixTianwen-1 Zhurong roverTrace Gas OrbiterViking Comets and asteroids Hayabusa2OSIRIS-RExRosetta Heliocentric BioSentinel Planned DragonflyEuropa ClipperExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover Proposed Breakthrough EnceladusBRUIECAESAREnceladus ExplorerEnceladus Life Finder‎Enceladus Life Signatures and HabitabilityEnceladus OrbilanderEuropa LanderExoLanceExplorer of Enceladus and TitanIcebreaker LifeJourney to Enceladus and TitanLaplace-PLife Investigation For EnceladusMars sample return missionOceanusTHEOTrident Cancelled and undeveloped Astrobiology Field LaboratoryBeagle 3Biological Oxidant and Life DetectionKazachokLiving Interplanetary Flight ExperimentMars Astrobiology Explorer-CacherMELOSNorthern LightRed DragonTerrestrial Planet Finder Institutions and programs Astrobiology Society of BritainAstrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring PlanetsBreakthrough Initiatives Breakthrough ListenBreakthrough MessageBreakthrough StarshotCarl Sagan InstituteCenter for Life Detection ScienceEuropean Astrobiology Network AssociationMERMOZNASA Astrobiology InstituteNexus for Exoplanet System ScienceOcean Worlds Exploration ProgramSpanish Astrobiology Center‎ Category Commons vte Molecules detected in outer space Molecules Diatomic Aluminium monochlorideAluminium monofluorideAluminium(II) oxideArgoniumCarbon cationCarbon monophosphideCarbon monosulfideCarbon monoxideCyano radicalDiatomic carbonFluoromethylidyniumHelium hydride ionHydrogen chlorideHydrogen fluorideHydrogen (molecular)Hydroxyl radicalIron(II) oxideMagnesium monohydrideMethylidyne radicalNitric oxideNitrogen (molecular)ImidogenSulfur mononitrideOxygen (molecular)Phosphorus monoxidePhosphorus mononitridePotassium chlorideSilicon carbideSilicon monoxideSilicon monosulfideSodium chlorideSodium iodideSulfur monohydrideSulfur monoxideTitanium(II) oxide Triatomic Aluminium(I) hydroxideAluminium isocyanideAmino radicalCarbon dioxideCarbonyl sulfideCCP radicalChloroniumDiazenyliumDicarbon monoxideDisilicon carbideEthynyl radicalFormyl radicalHydrogen cyanide (HCN)Hydrogen isocyanide (HNC)Hydrogen sulfideHydroperoxylIron cyanideIsoformylMagnesium cyanideMagnesium isocyanideMethylene radicalN2H+Nitrous oxideNitroxylOzonePhosphaethynePotassium cyanideProtonated molecular hydrogenSodium cyanideSodium hydroxideSilicon carbonitridec-Silicon dicarbideSiNCSulfur dioxideThioformylThioxoethenylideneTitanium dioxideTricarbonWater Four atoms AcetyleneAmmoniaCyanic acidCyanoethynylFormaldehydeFulminic acidHCCNHydrogen peroxideHydromagnesium isocyanideIsocyanic acidIsothiocyanic acidKetenylMethylene amidogenMethyl cationMethyl radicalPropynylidyneProtonated carbon dioxideProtonated hydrogen cyanideSilicon tricarbideThioformaldehydeTricarbon monoxideTricarbon monosulfideThiocyanic acid Five atoms Ammonium ionButadiynylCarbodiimideCyanamideCyanoacetyleneCyanoformaldehydeCyanomethylCyclopropenylideneFormic acidIsocyanoacetyleneKeteneMethaneMethoxy radicalMethyleniminePropadienylideneProtonated formaldehydeSilaneSilicon-carbide cluster Six atoms AcetonitrileCyanobutadiynyl radicalE-CyanomethanimineCyclopropenoneDiacetyleneEthyleneFormamideHC4NKetenimineMethanethiolMethanolMethyl isocyanidePentynylidynePropynalProtonated cyanoacetylene Seven atoms AcetaldehydeAcrylonitrile Vinyl cyanideCyanodiacetyleneEthylene oxideGlycolonitrileHexatriynyl radicalMethylacetyleneMethylamineMethyl isocyanateVinyl alcohol Eight atoms Acetic acidAminoacetonitrileCyanoalleneEthanimineGlycolaldehydeHexapentaenylideneMethylcyanoacetyleneMethyl formatePropenal Nine atoms AcetamideCyanohexatriyneCyanotriacetyleneDimethyl etherEthanolMethyldiacetyleneOctatetraynyl radicalPropenePropionitrile Ten atoms or more AcetoneBenzeneBenzonitrileBuckminsterfullerene (C60, C60+, fullerene, buckyball)C70 fullereneCyanodecapentayneCyanopentaacetyleneCyanotetra-acetyleneEthylene glycolEthyl formateMethyl acetateMethyl-cyano-diacetyleneMethyltriacetylenePropanaln-Propyl cyanidePyrimidineHeptatrienyl radical Deuterated molecules AmmoniaAmmonium ionFormaldehydeFormyl radicalHeavy waterHydrogen cyanideHydrogen deuterideHydrogen isocyanideMethylacetyleneN2D+Trihydrogen cation Unconfirmed AnthraceneDihydroxyacetoneEthyl methyl etherGlycineGrapheneHemolithin (possibly 1st extraterrestrial protein found)H2NCO+Linear C5Naphthalene cationPhosphinePyreneSilylidine Related AbiogenesisAstrobiologyAstrochemistryAtomic and molecular astrophysicsChemical formulaCircumstellar dustCircumstellar envelopeCosmic dustCosmic rayCosmochemistryDiffuse interstellar bandEarliest known life formsExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial liquid waterForbidden mechanismHomochiralityIntergalactic dustInterplanetary mediumInterstellar mediumPhotodissociation regionIron–sulfur world theoryKerogenMolecules in starsNexus for Exoplanet System ScienceOrganic compoundOuter spacePAH world hypothesisPseudo-panspermiaPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)RNA world hypothesisSpectroscopyTholin Category:Astrochemistry Outer space portal Astronomy portal Chemistry portal vte Interstellar communications Programs Active SETIBreakthrough Initiatives Breakthrough ListenBreakthrough MessageCommunication with extraterrestrial intelligenceSearch for extraterrestrial intelligence Messages List of interstellar radio messagesA Message from EarthAcross the UniverseArecibo messageBracewell probeCosmic CallCosmicOSHello from EarthPioneer plaqueTeen Age MessageVoyager Golden Record People Frank DrakeAnn DruyanHans FreudenthalSebastian von HoernerNikolai KardashevJon LombergCarl SaganLinda Salzman SaganIosif ShklovskyAleksandr Zaitsev Other Alien languageArchaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar CommunicationAstrobiologyAstrolinguisticsDrake equationExtraterrestrial lifeLincosFermi paradoxPrix GuzmanSan Marino Scale Category Space Portal Portals: icon Biology Astronomy icon Stars Spaceflight Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata International FAST National SpainFranceBnF dataGermanyIsraelUnited States Other NARAIdRef Categories: Extraterrestrial lifeAstrobiologyInterstellar messagesSearch for extraterrestrial intelligenceUnsolved problems in biologyUnsolved problems in astronomyAstronomical controversiesBiological hypothesesBiology controversiesScientific speculation

• Condition: In Excellent Condition
• Options: Commemorative
• Year of Issue: 2024
• Currency: Pioneer
• Fineness: 0.5
• Grade: Ungraded
• Features: Commemorative
• Material: Metal
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
• Variety: Apollo 11
• Certification: Uncertified
• Country of Origin: United States
• Colour: Silver

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