Featured Missions
Upcoming mission milestones showcase the breadth and depth of NASA science.
NISAR
Launching in September 2024, NISAR will systematically map Earth and study changes to ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice in fine detail, as climate change warms the air and ocean.
Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper is launching Oct. 10, 2024 with the main science goal of determining whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.
Lucy
Launched in October 2021, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by three asteroids in the solar system’s main asteroid belt, and by eight Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter.
From GOES to GeoXO: Past Highlights to Future Horizons
When NOAA’s GOES-U satellite is launched it will be the final satellite in a heralded NOAA satellite program and bridge to another future age of advanced satellite technology. For nearly 50 years, NOAA and NASA have partnered to develop and advance NOAA’s geostationary satellites as part of the most sophisticated weather-observing, environmental monitoring, and space weather monitoring satellite system in the world.
Learn More about the GOES MissionNASA Science Fleet Chart
NASA Science missions circle the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, and many other destinations within our Solar System, including spacecraft that look out even further into our universe. The Science Fleet depicts the scope of NASA’s activity and how our missions have permeated throughout the solar system.
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ACE
NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) collects and analyzes particles of solar, interplanetary, interstellar and galactic origins. The data contributes to our understanding of the Sun, its interaction with Earth, and…
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All Science Missions
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Able 1 (Pioneer 0)
Pioneer 0, also known as Able 1, was the first-ever launch to the Moon — and humanity’s first attempt to…
Able 2 (Pioneer 1)
The U.S. Air Force shared management of this lunar mission with America's newly-formed space agency — NASA.
Able 4B (Pioneer P-3)
Able 4B, also known as Pioneer P-3, was part of a U.S. push to get to the Moon after the…
Able 5A (Pioneer P-30)
What was Able 5A (Pioneer P-30)? This U.S. probe had a mission similar to its failed predecessor, Able 4B. It…
Able 5B (Pioneer P-31)
What was Able 5B (Pioneer P-31)? LIke its two unsuccessful predecessors, this U.S. spacecraft was launched to orbit the Moon.…
ACME
Advancing combustion technology via fundamental microgravity/Improving efficiency and reducing emission in practical terrestrial combustion The Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments…
ACRIMSAT
Earth Orbiter
Apollo 15 Subsatellite
Launch Date Aug. 4, 1971 Launch Site Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA | Launch Complex 39A Destination Earth’s Moon Type Orbiter…
Apollo 16 Subsatellite
Launch Date Apr. 24, 1972 Launch Site Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA | Launch Complex 39A Destination Earth’s Moon Type Orbiter…
Aquarius
Eyes on Aquarius The joint U.S./Argentinian Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D mission was launched June 10, 2011, and ended on…
ATLAS
The Atlas Program ATLAS-1, the first of the ATLAS series of Shuttle flights, was an important part of the long-term,…
ATS
Applications Technology Satellite Program The Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) series was conceived of as a follow-on to the successful experimental…
BARREL
BARREL was a balloon-based mission to study X-rays in Earth’s atmosphere near the North and South poles.
Beresheet
Beresheet was Israel's first lunar mission and the first attempt by a private company to land on the Moon.
Cassini-Huygens
Saturn Orbiter
Chandrayaan-1 / Moon Impact Probe
India's Chandrayaan-1 played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the Moon.
Chandrayaan-2
Goals Chandrayaan-2 was India’s first attempt to soft land on the Moon. The mission includes an orbiter, lander and rover.…
CHIPS
The Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) was a University-Class Explorer (UNEX) mission. The CHIPS program demonstrated that a small…
CINDI/CNOFS
CINDI was a mission to understand the dynamics of Earth’s ionosphere, the part of the atmosphere where particles have separated…
Clementine
What was Clementine? Clementine was the first U.S. spacecraft launched to the Moon in over 20 years. It was designed…
CONTOUR
CONTOUR, a NASA mission to explore at least two comets, was lost do malfunction a few weeks after launch.
CRRES
The Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) was launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) for a nominal three-year…
CuSP
On the first flight of the Space Launch System, the CuSP secondary payload will serve as a “space weather station”…
Dawn
Dwarf Planet & Asteroid Orbiter
Deep Impact (EPOXI)
What was Deep Impact (EPOXI)? The primary mission of NASA’s Deep Impact was to probe beneath the surface of a…
Deep Space 1
What was Deep Space 1? NASA’s Deep Space 1 was an engineering test flight for a dozen new technologies, including…
Disturbance Reduction System
What was the ST-7 Disturbance Reduction System? The Space Technology 7 (ST-7) Disturbance Reduction System (DRS) flew aboard the European…
Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
DART was NASA's first successful planetary defense test. The spacecraft deliberately impacted asteroid Dimorphos, and successfully altered the asteroid’s orbit.
ELFIN
The Electron Losses and Fields Investigation, or ELFIN, studies one of the processes that allows energetic electrons to escape the…
Equator-S
Equator-S was a low-cost mission designed to study Earth’s magnetic environment, the magnetosphere, above the equator. This unique orbit took…
ERBS
NASA’s Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was designed to investigate how energy from the Sun is absorbed and re-radiated by…