NASA Science Missions

Featured Missions

Our mission milestones showcase the breadth and depth of NASA science.

Artist's rendering of NASA's Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper

Launched Oct. 14, 2024, Europa Clipper’s main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.

Boxy, SmallSat in orbit over the Moon

Lunar Trailblazer

Launching in 2024, the goal of Lunar Trailblazer is to understand the form, abundance, and distribution of water on the Moon, and the lunar water cycle.

Artist Rendering of NISAR

NISAR

Launching in 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.

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Image of a gloved hand and normal hand exchanging a colorful chip; text reads 3D tissue chips advanced biomedical research

3D Tissue Chips

Developing tissue chips that can be used for modeling of acute and/or chronic exposures for 6 months or longer 3D…

Pioneer 0

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…

A Pioneer spacecraft in space

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…

Ready for Orbit

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.…

ACE

NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) collects and analyzes particles of solar, interplanetary, interstellar, and galactic origins. The data contributes to…

ACME mission

ACME

Advancing combustion technology via fundamental microgravity/Improving efficiency and reducing emission in practical terrestrial combustion The Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments…

an illustration of ACRIMSAT in orbit

ACRIMSAT

Earth Orbiter

Photo of plants growing in a controlled environment

Advanced Plant Habitat

Conducting plant bioscience research aboard the International Space Station The Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) is the largest, fully automated plant…

Akatsuki

Akatsuki

Launch Date May 21, 2010 Launch Site Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima, Japan Destination Venus Type Orbiter Status Successful–In Progress Nation…

Apollo 15 Subsatellite

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

Apollo 16 Subsatellite

Launch Date Apr. 24, 1972 Launch Site Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA | Launch Complex 39A Destination Earth’s Moon Type Orbiter…

Artist's concept of the Aqua spacecraft above Earth.

Aqua

Earth Orbiter

532569main_pia13971-full_full.jpg

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

ATLAS

The Atlas Program ATLAS-1, the first of the ATLAS series of Shuttle flights, was an important part of the long-term,…

ATS

ATS

Applications Technology Satellite Program The Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) series was conceived of as a follow-on to the successful experimental…

This image is an animated version of the Aura satellite in orbit. The satellite, seen centered in the image, is made up of silver and gold box-like shapes and instruments. Spanning out to the right of the satellite is a long sheet of solar panels. In the background of the image at the bottom is a portion of Earth seen with clouds and a blue haze surrounding it. The top of the background is the deep black of space, with a cluster of green colored stars to the left.

Aura

Earth Orbiter

Above Earth, the International Space Station orbits. From one area toward the middle of the station, a transparent cone highlights a rainbow stripe of Earth's atmosphere.

AWE

The Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) is attached to the exterior of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station. From its space station…

BARREL

BARREL was a balloon-based mission to study X-rays in Earth’s atmosphere near the North and South poles.

Two orbiters mated together in deep space.

BepiColombo

What is BepiColombo? BepiColombo is an international mission comprised of two spacecraft riding together to Mercury to orbit and to…

Small lander on the surface of the Moon.

Beresheet

Beresheet was Israel's first lunar mission and the first attempt by a private company to land on the Moon.

Image of the earth on the left with the sun in the far distance and the moon on the right. Overlaying text reads: Biological Experiment-01 and Studying how life responds to conditions beyond low-Earth orbit.

BioExpt-01

Biological Experiment-01 on Artemis I Studying how life responds to conditions beyond low Earth orbit BioExperiment-01 (BioExpt-01) will serve as…

BurstCube

BurstCube is a shoebox-sized satellite designed to study the universe’s most powerful explosions.

an illustration of calipso in space

CALIPSO

Earth Orbiter

Spacecraft heating up in Saturn's atmosphere.

Cassini-Huygens

Saturn Orbiter

an illustration of Chandra in space

Chandra

Space Telescope

Globe of Moon with color-coded strips of data indicating mineral composition.

Chandrayaan-1 / Moon Impact Probe

India's Chandrayaan-1 played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the Moon.