Venus

Quite a few candles have been lit since NASA was born on Oct. 1, 1958. Here’s a quick look back at some highlights from six decades of exploration—and a glimpse of what’s ahead.

September nights! Planets bright! Milky Way sights!!

What's up in the night sky this month? Enjoy a ringside seat for Saturn, plus a night long parade featuring Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Vesta!

There are over 3,700 planets in our galaxy. Spend Memorial Day barbecuing it up on any of these alien worlds.

Every time you take a breath of fresh air, it’s easy to forget you can safely do so because of Earth’s atmosphere. What makes the atmosphere special, and how do other planets’ atmospheres compare?

At sunset, catch elusive Mercury, bright Venus, the Zodiacal Light, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter between midnight and dawn.

Venus may have had a shallow liquid-water ocean and habitable surface temperatures for up to 2 billion years of its early history, according to computer modeling of the planet’s ancient climate.

The exploration of the solar system is uniquely poised to bring planetary scientists, worldwide, together under the common theme of understanding the origin, evolution and bodies of our solar neighborhood.

Astrophysics Division assets have been used in the past to support planetary science research activities and planetary missions.

Dr. Jim Green, director of NASA Planetary Science, speaks to attendees of the 2013 IAA Planetary Defense Conference in April 2013.

The transit of Venus across our Sun for about 7 hours (begining 6:09 PM Eastern US on June 5th) is an astronomical event that will not occur again until 2117.

In August 1962 NASA launched Mariner 2 to Venus and a new era in solar system exploration began.

Juno, the second mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program, launched flawlessly on Friday, August 5th, on a journey to Jupiter.

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Astronomers have known for many years that stars form when the cores of giant clouds of cold molecular material fragment and collapse.

When the three main engines of the Space Shuttle thunder to life during the launch of Discovery, their roar not only marks astronauts once again venturing into space but also trumpets a salute to the man whose vision made such a journey possible.

Charles (Charlie) F. Hall, manager of three of NASA's most daring and exciting early scientific space missions, died August 26 in a Mountain View, CA hospital following a brief illness.

Astronomers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. Naval Observatory have solved the ancient mystery of the origin of the Chinese calendar, it was reported to the 182nd meeting of the American Astronomical Society today in Berkeley, Calif.

Mariner II's fly-by of Venus on December 14 has produced the most accurate estimate yet of the mass of our sister planet, two scientists from the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported today.