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Exoplanet Travel Bureau

Even the closest exoplanets are too far away to visit. But... what if they weren't? We worked with NASA scientists, futurists and artists to imagine exoplanet tourism. Choose your adventure with guided tours, in English and Spanish. Read along or turn your sound up as you scroll through.

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NASA’s Traveler: NASA’s Guide To Black Hole Safety

Have you ever thought about visiting a black hole? We sure hope not. However, if you’re absolutely convinced that a black hole is your ideal vacation spot, watch this video […]

NASA’s Traveler: NASA’s Guide to Near-light-speed Travel

Nasa’s traveler: field guide to basic black holes.

If you’re looking to find some black holes, it’s always helpful to know exactly what you’re looking for! To get started on your black hole hunt, first watch this handy […]

NASA’s Traveler: Field Guide to Fancy Black Holes

Once you’ve gotten the hang of basic black holes, you might want to search for some fancier ones. That’s great! But, before you do, refer to this convenient chapter to […]

NASA’s Traveler: Field Guide to Social Black Holes

Watching black holes by themselves is fun, but what about ones that like being more social? Some black holes really LOVE to dance with other objects in the universe. Learn […]

NASA’s Traveler: Field Guide to Social Supermassive Black Holes

It’s not just smaller black holes that have all the fun – really, really massive black holes also enjoy being the center of attention! Watch this chapter to learn more […]

NASA’s Traveler: Field Guide to Black Hole Records

Even though you’ve learned about basic black holes, and fancy black holes, and social black holes, and giant black holes, there are always stranger things out there! In this final […]

NASA’s Traveler: Guide to Visiting a Gamma-Ray Burst

Are you looking for a new vacation spot? Perhaps one with spectacular fireworks? While gamma-ray bursts produce brilliant displays of light across the entire spectrum, we cannot recommend visiting one.

• Page Last Updated: Aug 30, 2024
• Responsible NASA Official: Rebecca Sirmons

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NASA’s Europa Clipper Gets Set of Super-Size Solar Arrays

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New nasa web content.

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

NASA will provide live coverage of the upcoming activities for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft departure from the International Space Station and return to Earth. The uncrewed spacecraft will depart from the orbiting laboratory for a landing at White Sands Space Harbor…

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The Mars 2020 Science Team meets in Pasadena for 3 days of science synthesis

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Mission to Jupiter

The Juno spacecraft, which entered orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016, is the first explorer to peer below the planet's dense clouds to answer questions about the gas giant itself and the origins of our solar system. Now in an extended mission phase, the agency’s most distant planetary orbiter continues its investigation.

Mission Statistics

Time in Orbit

Launch Date

Aug. 5, 2011

About the mission

On August 5, 2011, NASA’s Juno spacecraft embarked on a 5-year journey to Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet. Juno arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016, after a five-year, 1,740-million-mile journey, and settled into a 53-day polar orbit stretching from just above Jupiter’s cloud tops to the outer reaches of the Jovian magnetosphere.

During the prime mission’s 35 orbits of Jupiter, Juno collected more than three terabits of science data and provided dazzling views of Jupiter and its satellites, all processed by citizen scientists with NASA’s first-ever camera dedicated to public outreach. Juno’s many discoveries have changed our view of Jupiter’s atmosphere and interior, revealing an atmospheric weather layer that extends far beyond its water clouds and a deep interior with a dilute heavy element core. Near the end of the prime mission, as the spacecraft’s orbit evolved, flybys of the moon Ganymede initiated Juno’s transition into a full Jovian system explorer.

Now in its extended mission, Juno will continue its investigation of the solar system’s largest planet through September 2025, or until the spacecraft’s end of life. This extension tasks Juno with becoming an explorer of the full Jovian system – Jupiter and its rings and moons – with additional rendezvous planned for two of Jupiter’s most intriguing moons: Europa and Io.

Instruments

• Gravity Science
• Magnetometer (MAG)
• Microwave Radiometer (MWR)
• Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument (JEDI)
• Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE)
• Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVS)
• Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM)
• Stellar Reference Unit (SRU)

Mission Highlights

August-September 2012

Deep Space Maneuevers

Oct. 1, 2013

Earth Flyby Gravity Assist

July 4, 2016

Jupiter Arrival and Orbit Insertion

Aug. 1, 2021

Extended Mission

September 2025

End of Mission

Interactive 3D model of Juno. View the full interactive experience at Eyes on the Solar System .

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From lighting up our skies to maintaining a geological record of our solar system’s history, Earth’s closest celestial neighbor plays a pivotal role in the studies of our planet and our solar system. 

Earth's Moon is the brightest and largest object in our night sky. The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years.

The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth several billion years ago.

Earth's only natural satellite is simply called "the Moon" because people didn't know other moons existed until Galileo Galilei discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610. In Latin, the Moon was called Luna, which is the main adjective for all things Moon-related: lunar.

Moon Phases 2024

This visualization shows the Moon's phase at hourly intervals throughout 2024, as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere.

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This September, join our global community of lunar observers by registering a virtual or in-person event or observing on your own.

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ImagE:

Far side of the moon.

The Moon's far side gets as much sunlight as its near side.

Like Earth, the Moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the Moon rotates. The Sun always illuminates half of the Moon while the other half remains dark. NASA’s LRO mission has used its seven science instruments to map the entire lunar surface, including the Moon's near and far sides, down to a scale of one meter.

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Facts About Earth

Is Time Travel Possible?

We all travel in time! We travel one year in time between birthdays, for example. And we are all traveling in time at approximately the same speed: 1 second per second.

We typically experience time at one second per second. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's space telescopes also give us a way to look back in time. Telescopes help us see stars and galaxies that are very far away . It takes a long time for the light from faraway galaxies to reach us. So, when we look into the sky with a telescope, we are seeing what those stars and galaxies looked like a very long time ago.

However, when we think of the phrase "time travel," we are usually thinking of traveling faster than 1 second per second. That kind of time travel sounds like something you'd only see in movies or science fiction books. Could it be real? Science says yes!

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows galaxies that are very far away as they existed a very long time ago. Credit: NASA, ESA and R. Thompson (Univ. Arizona)

How do we know that time travel is possible?

More than 100 years ago, a famous scientist named Albert Einstein came up with an idea about how time works. He called it relativity. This theory says that time and space are linked together. Einstein also said our universe has a speed limit: nothing can travel faster than the speed of light (186,000 miles per second).

Einstein's theory of relativity says that space and time are linked together. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What does this mean for time travel? Well, according to this theory, the faster you travel, the slower you experience time. Scientists have done some experiments to show that this is true.

For example, there was an experiment that used two clocks set to the exact same time. One clock stayed on Earth, while the other flew in an airplane (going in the same direction Earth rotates).

After the airplane flew around the world, scientists compared the two clocks. The clock on the fast-moving airplane was slightly behind the clock on the ground. So, the clock on the airplane was traveling slightly slower in time than 1 second per second.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Can we use time travel in everyday life?

We can't use a time machine to travel hundreds of years into the past or future. That kind of time travel only happens in books and movies. But the math of time travel does affect the things we use every day.

For example, we use GPS satellites to help us figure out how to get to new places. (Check out our video about how GPS satellites work .) NASA scientists also use a high-accuracy version of GPS to keep track of where satellites are in space. But did you know that GPS relies on time-travel calculations to help you get around town?

GPS satellites orbit around Earth very quickly at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. This slows down GPS satellite clocks by a small fraction of a second (similar to the airplane example above).

GPS satellites orbit around Earth at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. Credit: GPS.gov

However, the satellites are also orbiting Earth about 12,550 miles (20,200 km) above the surface. This actually speeds up GPS satellite clocks by a slighter larger fraction of a second.

Here's how: Einstein's theory also says that gravity curves space and time, causing the passage of time to slow down. High up where the satellites orbit, Earth's gravity is much weaker. This causes the clocks on GPS satellites to run faster than clocks on the ground.

The combined result is that the clocks on GPS satellites experience time at a rate slightly faster than 1 second per second. Luckily, scientists can use math to correct these differences in time.

If scientists didn't correct the GPS clocks, there would be big problems. GPS satellites wouldn't be able to correctly calculate their position or yours. The errors would add up to a few miles each day, which is a big deal. GPS maps might think your home is nowhere near where it actually is!

In Summary:

Yes, time travel is indeed a real thing. But it's not quite what you've probably seen in the movies. Under certain conditions, it is possible to experience time passing at a different rate than 1 second per second. And there are important reasons why we need to understand this real-world form of time travel.

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Typhoon Shanshan Approaches Japan, Bringing Heavy Rain and Winds

Japan’s southern islands were forecast to receive the most rain. The powerful storm has forced flight cancellations and disrupted high-speed rail travel.

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By Hisako Ueno and Yan Zhuang

Typhoon Shanshan was churning toward southwestern Japan on Tuesday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds, forcing some flight cancellations and disrupting the country’s high-speed rail network.

The powerful storm had sustained wind gusts of up to 120 miles per hour on Tuesday, equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre.

As the typhoon slowly approaches the Amami Islands, an archipelago southwest of Japan’s mainland, it is expected to dump up to 16 inches of rain on the islands from midday Tuesday to midday Wednesday, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said . Later in the week, parts of western Japan may receive nearly two feet of rain within 24 hours. The agency warned of the potential for widespread floods and landslides.

After approaching the Amami Islands, the storm is predicted to shift north on Wednesday and approach Kyushu, one of Japan’s main islands, by Thursday. It may make landfall in Kyushu, the agency said , but forecasters are uncertain about its exact path.

Because the typhoon is moving slowly, the Amami region and western Japan will experience long periods of violent or very strong winds and rain, the agency said.

Winds of up to 90 miles per hour were forecast in southern Kyushu and the Amami region starting from Tuesday, and could increase to 110 miles per hour on Wednesday.

If the typhoon speeds up after landfall, it could exit swiftly up the spine of the country and weaken over the rugged mountains. But the storm could have even more severe effects if it stalls right at landfall, hangs around for a few days or spins back south.

Japan Airlines said that it had canceled some Wednesday flights arriving and departing from parts of central Japan, including from Osaka Kansai Airport, one of the country’s biggest airports. All Nippon Airlines, the country’s largest airline, said that the storm was expected to affect some flights at Osaka airport.

The country’s high-speed rail network, the Shinkansen, began to cancel some services starting Tuesday. The cancellations may last until the weekend, its operators warned.

The start of the Pacific Ocean typhoon season this year has seen a lower number of tropical storms than average, in part because of the La Niña weather pattern that is predicted to arrive later this summer, according to the National Weather Service.

La Niña, which is defined by cooler equatorial sea surface temperatures, typically increases wind shear — changes in wind speed and direction — in the central Pacific region, which makes it harder for storms to develop, the Weather Service said in May .

Still, forecasters said on Tuesday that several other tropical storms brewing in the region near Hawaii, including Hone and Hector , though none were close enough to threaten the island.

Gilma, another storm in the region with Category 2 hurricane wind speeds, was expected to reach the central Pacific basin on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm is whirling toward Hawaii and threatening to bring rainfall, but it is too early to know if it will pass over the islands or near them this week.

Between May and July, the Western Pacific region saw three tropical storms, two typhoons and one major typhoon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . The average for that period between 1991 and 2020 is about eight tropical storms, about four typhoons and two major typhoons.

Judson Jones and Isabella Kwai contributed reporting.

Hisako Ueno is a reporter and researcher based in Tokyo, writing on Japanese politics, business, labor, gender and culture. More about Hisako Ueno

Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news. More about Yan Zhuang

NASA says astronauts stuck in space will not return on Boeing capsule, will wait for SpaceX craft

NASA will call on SpaceX to bring home two astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station since early June after their Boeing spacecraft ran into several problems midflight, the agency said Saturday.

The decision for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to hitch a ride back to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, rather than on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that they rode into orbit, puts to rest months of speculation and tension within the space agency over how — and when — the two crew members could safely return. The mission was planned to last about eight days.

“Spaceflight is risky — even at its safest and even at its most routine — and a test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine, and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Saturday at a news briefing.

The Starliner drama has been a major setback for Boeing's space ambitions, adding to years of struggle to get the capsule off the ground and keep up with rival company SpaceX. Even before Wilmore and Williams launched in June, the Starliner program was more than $1.5 billion over budget and years behind schedule.

Top NASA officials, including Nelson, gathered Saturday at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to conduct a formal review based on the results of tests done in orbit and on the ground .

While the agency has finally settled on how to bring the astronauts back, their return trip will not be immediate. Instead, Wilmore and Williams will remain at the space station for about six more months before flying home in February.

NASA said it will free up two seats on an upcoming SpaceX launch, known as Crew-9, that will be taking a new rotation of space station crew members to the orbiting outpost. By transporting two astronauts instead of the planned four, Wilmore and Williams will be able to fly back in the open seats at the end of the Crew-9 mission in February.

The Crew-9 flight is currently scheduled to lift off on Sept. 24 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The beleaguered Starliner capsule, meanwhile, will journey back to Earth without a crew, likely sometime in early September, according to NASA.

Boeing said in a statement following the announcement: “We continue to focus, first and foremost, on the safety of the crew and spacecraft. We are executing the mission as determined by NASA, and we are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return.”

Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said that while Boeing officials expressed confidence in their spacecraft, the decision to go with SpaceX was unanimous among NASA officials.

“There was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters,” Stich said. “If we had a model, [if] we had a way to accurately predict what the thrusters would do for the undock and all the way through the de-orbit burn, through the separation sequence, I think we would have taken a different course of action.”

NASA’s uncertainty in recent weeks stood in stark contrast to the public messaging from Boeing. The aerospace company has said that tests done in orbit and on the ground indicated that the Starliner capsule was safe to bring the astronauts home.

Over the past month, Boeing officials have not taken part in news briefings hosted by NASA to discuss the Starliner mission. Boeing was publishing details of the flight’s status on the company’s website, but there have been no mission updates posted since Aug. 2. In that statement from earlier this month , Boeing said it “remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with crew.”

Wilmore and Williams arrived at the space station on June 6. As they were approaching the orbiting outpost, five of Starliner’s thrusters malfunctioned , causing a nearly hourlong delay in the docking process. Separately, mission managers also detected helium leaking from the capsule’s propulsion system — an issue that was known prior to the spacecraft’s launch but appeared to worsen during the flight.

Engineers from NASA and Boeing spent weeks analyzing the problems using a test engine that was built for future Starliner flights. Mission managers also conducted two “hot fire tests” in space, which involved firing the capsule’s thrusters in short bursts while it remained docked at the space station.

Wilmore and Williams launched to the International Space Station on June 5 on the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. The mission, which was meant to last just over a week, was a crucial test flight for Boeing, serving as the last major step before NASA could certify the Starliner spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station on a regular basis.

It’s unclear how NASA will proceed with the certification process now, including how the space agency will evaluate Starliner’s performance on the crewed test flight.

SpaceX, meanwhile, has been ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station since 2020.

Both Boeing and SpaceX developed their space capsules as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative that started in 2011 to support private companies in building new space vehicles to take astronauts to low-Earth orbit following the retirement of the agency’s space shuttles.

Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator, praised the teams at NASA and Boeing and said the work done over the past few months will inform future missions.

“We are a learning organization,” he said. “We’ll learn from this effort so that our crews, who are at the top of the pyramid on these missions, and their families can continue to know we’ve done that and we’ll always do our best.”

Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.