The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is an institute of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). USRA was incorporated in 1969 in the District of Columbia as a private nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences. Institutional membership in the Association has grown from 49 colleges and universities when it was founded, to 95 in 2004. All member institutions have graduate programs in space sciences or aerospace engineering. Besides 88 member institutions in the United States, there are two member institutions in Canada, three in Europe, and two in Israel. NIAC's charter is focused on grand, revolutionary concepts for architectures and systems.

Since 1961, more than 400 human beings have ventured into space. Now aboard the International Space Station, astronauts are working to improve life on Earth and extend life beyond our home planet.

he twin GRACE satellites, launched March 17, 2002, are designed to produce a new model of the Earth's gravity field with unprecedented accuracy. The estimates of the time variations in the gravity field obtained from GRACE, in conjunction with other satellite and in-situ data, and geophysical models, can provide improved measurements of deep ocean currents, ocean bottom pressure, sea level rise, sea ice mass variation and distribution, soil moisture, groundwater transport, and land density.

The official Mars exploration program website of NASA.

NASA Mars Rover One-Year Anniversary Special Flash multimedia website.

Welcome to NASA news and features. Stay up to date with NASA by exploring our latest agency, mission, and research highlights.

NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR) conducts interdisciplinary, peer reviewed, fundamental and applied research to address the opportunities and challenges to NASA that are provided by the space environment and the human exploration of space.

Because astronauts are spending more time in space, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is working with Brookhaven National Laboratory and others here on Earth to learn about the possible risks to human beings exposed to space radiation. To study the radiobiological effects using beams that simulate the cosmic rays found in space, a new, $34-million NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) has been established at Brookhaven Lab. Within the NSRL target room, Brookhaven researchers and other NASA-sponsored scientists irradiate a variety of biological specimens, tissues, and cells, as well as DNA in solution. Other experimenters use industrial materials as samples, studying their suitability for space suits and spacecraft shielding. In increasing knowledge of the effects of cosmic radiation, NSRL studies may expand the understanding of the link between ionizing radiation and aging or neuro-degeneration, as well as cancer. In aiming to limit the damage to healthy tissue by ionization, NSRL research may also lead to improvements in cancer radiation treatments.

NASA Missions on the cutting edge of discovery. How is NASA explorint the structure and evolution of the universe? NASA space missions in the SUE theme continue to answer and inspire the greatest questions about the nature of space, time, matter and energy. Explore the ongoing space science investigations of today and tomorrow, and learn what science and technology can tell us about the structure and evolution of the universe.

In the coming years, NASA will be extending out reach into space ... going to the Moon and paving the way for eventual human exploration of Mars and beyond.

NOAO's purpose is to provide the best ground-based astronomical telescopes to the nation's astronomers, to promote public understanding and support of science, and to help advance all aspects of US astronomy. As a national facility, NOAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional affiliation. The National Optical Astronomy Observatory was formed in 1982 to consolidate all AURA-managed ground-based astronomical observatories (Kitt Peak National Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and the National Solar Observatory with facilities at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico and Kitt Peak, Arizona) under a single Director. Today, the National Solar Observatory has its own director. NOAO also represents the US astronomical community in the International Gemini Project through its new NOAO Gemini Science Center.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is one of the world's premier research facilities for radio astronomy. NRAO operates powerful, advanced radio telescopes spanning the western hemisphere. Scientists from around the world use these instruments to probe fundamental questions in astronomy and physics.

The NSSTC is a collaborative research and education initiative focused on selected key scientific disciplines. It consists of researchers and resources from government, academia, and industry collaborating in an environment that enables cutting edge basic and applied research and fosters education of the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) is a research organization with its core facility in Huntsville, Ala. A partnership between NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama universities, federal agencies and industry, the Center is a laboratory for cutting-edge research in selected scientific and engineering disciplines. Not only does the NSSTC enable cutting-edge basic and applied research, it also fosters the education of the next generation of scientists and engineers. Undergraduate and graduate students participate in the cooperative research and experience is provided for educators. Research performed by the National Space Science and Technology Center ranges from pure science to technology development - with spacecraft, sounding rockets, balloons and aircraft, as well as laboratory experiments being used to perform this research.

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission is the first launch in the Discovery Program, a NASA initiative for small planetary missions, with a maximum 3-year development cycle and a cost capped at $150 million in FY 1992 dollars. The NEAR mission is managed for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, in Laurel, MD. As the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid, the NEAR mission promises to answer fundamental questions about the nature and origin of near-Earth objects, such as the numerous asteroids and comets in the vicinity of Earth's orbit. On Monday, 12 February 2001, the NEAR spacecraft touched down on asteroid Eros, after transmitting 69 close-up images of the surface during its final descent.