NASA History Office

#OTD in 2001, our team at #NASAMarshall began 24/7 support for science on the @Space_Station. This partnership has resulted in over 4,000 different scientific investigations and breakthroughs! Learn more as we celebrate this 25-year milestone: go.nasa.gov/4skSmkQ

Artwork: "Maiden Flight of the Columbia" Artist: Marbury Brown Copyrighted catalog.archives.gov/id/6343385

@MATTSPACHISTORY Your rank: Shuttle History Captain!

@NASAhistory Marsha Ivins - 55 days 21 hours 47 minutes 42 seconds Andrew Allen - 37 days 16 hours 12 minutes 2 seconds John Casper - 34 days 9 hours 52 minutes 38 seconds Pierre Thuot - 37 days 6 hours 52 minutes 40 seconds Charles Gemer - 24 days 5 hours 38 minutes 44 seconds

15 years ago today, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft achieved this first! For more than four years, it studied the closest planet to our Sun. MESSENGER created a comprehensive map of its surface, learned that Mercury has a metallic core, and discovered water ice in its polar craters! go.nasa.gov/4bu44SZ

Do you know the name of the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury? 🤔

@rimonhamo @NASAAdmin Happy birthday!

@NASAhistory @NASAAdmin Right in my birthday. x.com/rimonhamo/stat…

Triumph turns to near disaster 60 years ago this morning At 11:41 am March 16, 1966, rookie astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott launched aboard Gemini VIII. Within 6 hours, they had accomplished the first ever docking of two spacecraft in orbit. It was a milestone that the Apollo program depended on. Without proving that two vehicles could safely link up in space, there would be no Moon landing. But 27 minutes after docking, their spacecraft began to spin uncontrollably. Armstrong and Scott found themselves in danger of losing consciousness as they spun at around 1 revolution per second. Armstrong, cool-headed under extreme duress, was able to disable the misfiring thruster and stabilize the spacecraft, saving their lives.

The mission was cut short. The Gemini VIII spacecraft splashed down in the Western Pacific less than 11 hours after launch. More: nasa.gov/mission/gemini…

@BePrepared72 Great choice! 🚀

My favorite science project reports in elementary school...

A 2.5-second rocket flight that heralded decades of discovery in space! Today marks 100 years since the first successful test of a liquid-fueled rocket. Robert H. Goddard's achievement would have appeared unimpressive by most measures: His rocket flew just 41 feet in the air, landing in a nearby cabbage patch. Liquid-propelled rocketry has been the backbone of spaceflight ever since. 📷 by Esther Goddard on March 16, 1926 (Clark University Archive)

When Apollo 9 splashed down on this day in 1969, para rescue jumpers were there to assist with the recovery. Learn more about the work of First Air Force Detachment 3 and their long-standing partnership with NASA in this week's #HWHAP.

In March 1970, more than 30 sounding rockets launched from Wallops during a total solar eclipse to study changes in the atmosphere. In the decades since, Wallops has launched thousands of rockets, from sounding rockets all the way to Antares missions resupplying the Space Station. All of these rocket launches owe inspiration to our parent facility's namesake: Robert Goddard. One hundred years ago, Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket, carrying us into the space age. These launches and many other following helped shape NASA's goals of reaching the Moon and beyond.

@nasalangley Read the transcript of Lee's oral history interview to learn more about her nearly 40-year career with the NACA and NASA. go.nasa.gov/3NchpY3

"I knew that we were going to go to the Moon when I was 10 years old. That was in 1937." Dottie Lee began work at @NASALangley in 1948 as a human computer. Fast forward 2 decades and she was helping design the space shuttle, becoming its Subsystems Manager of Aerothermodynamics.

@NASAMARSHALL Read more about ALaMO 👇 nasa.gov/blogs/watch-th…

Remember the ALaMO—the Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory that is! 20 years ago today, this observatory at @NASAMarshall saw its "first light" and has since been tracking meteors and impacts on the Moon ⬇️ to help us better understand hazards that explorers could face.

@NASA_Johnson So inspirational!

“Take time to look.” — Georgia O’Keeffe In a world where life moves pretty quickly, it’s easy to miss moments that deserve our attention. From 250 miles above Earth, NASA astronauts witness our planet in constant motion — weather systems forming, coastlines shifting, and light sweeping across the horizon. Views like this remind us that even in a fast‑paced world, pausing to notice the details can change how we understand and appreciate our home.

Wow, one year in space! 🎉 We can’t wait to see what SPHEREx helps us learn as it continues to map the sky.

@Tarun879171 @NASAKennedy Exactly! You can read about this difference in the Apollo 10 rollout here nasa.gov/history/50-yea…

@NASAhistory @NASAKennedy To reach Pad 39B, the crawler-transporter had to exit from the rear of the Vehicle Assembly Building and loop around to join the main crawlerway, a path never used before because Apollo 10 was assembled in High Bay 2, used for the first time......

On a roll While Apollo 9 was still in orbit OTD in 1969, the 363-foot-tall Apollo 10 space vehicle rolled out to the launchpad at @NASAKennedy in preparation for its May 18, 1969, launch.