In 2024, NASA made leap after giant leap to explore, discover, and inspire—all while bringing real, tangible, and substantial benefits to the American people and to all of humanity.
For the Benefit of Humanity
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. NASA/Kim Shiflett
HUMANS IN SPACE
Exploring the Moon
NASA made strides toward the Artemis Generation of scientific discovery at the Moon while validating operations and systems to prepare for human missions to Mars.
As part of NASA's efforts to monitor climate change, the agency launched multiple satellites to study our changing planet, including the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite mission to help us better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide.
25 people lived and worked aboard the International Space Station this year, helping to complete science for the benefit of humanity, open access to space to more people, and support exploration of the Moon in preparation for Mars.
NASA leveraged partnerships to advance technologies and test new capabilities to help the agency develop a sustainable presence on the lunar surface and beyond while benefiting life on our home planet and in low Earth orbit.
NASA researchers worked to advance innovations that will transform U.S. aviation, furthering the Sustainable Flight National Partnership and other efforts to help the country reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
A team led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge repurposed the James Webb Space Telescope's observations of a distant star to reveal a population of small asteroids—smaller than astronomers had ever detected—orbiting the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
On Thursday, Dec. 12, NASA completed the first maximum afterburner engine run test on its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft. The ground test, conducted at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, marks a significant milestone as the X-59 team progresses toward flight.
Do You Know?
This pair of images of one of the moons of Saturn shows the significant difference in brightness of its two hemispheres. Tidally locked with Saturn, its leading hemisphere has a reflectivity as dark as coal, whereas the trailing hemisphere is much brighter.
Find out the answer in next week's edition of the NASA newsletter 🤓
Last week we asked, what does NACA stand for? The answer: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The predecessor of NASA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), was founded in 1915 with the intent of being an advisory committee that would coordinate flight research underway in America. It quickly became a leading research organization in the new field of aeronautics, pushing back the boundaries of flight until its transformation into NASA in 1958.
NASA 2025: To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.
