All Stories

Ambitious plans for gas stations in space could extend the lives of satellites

Conservator Rachel Greenberg reflects on the conservation and restoration of a 30-foot parabolic antenna that is part of a full-scale engineering model of the Applications Technology Satellite-6 (ATS-6). Read about the large umbrella-shaped antenna that now hangs from the ceiling in the new One World Connected gallery.

Our Museum recently acquired a first-generation HawkEye 360 Pathfinder satellite. The three Pathfinders and follow-on satellites form the first commercial satellite constellation ever to detect, characterize, and geolocate a broad range of radio frequency signals from transmitters on the ground and sea.

Curator Jennier Levasseur explores how astronauts have looked down at Earth during missions ranging from Apollo to the International Space Station expeditions.

Learn about three ways that satellites have led to a better understanding of how we affect our environment.

Over time, Earth was became one connected planet—one global neighborhood.

When you hear the term “space archaeology” you might envision a khaki-clad astronaut excavating the Moon. But actually, space archaeologists are actually Earth-bound researchers who use satellite and other aerial imagery to assist in archaeological applications right here on our home planet. This imagery is used to find new archaeological sites, track changes on already discovered ones, and even helps fight looting.

Satellites from NASA and private companies are making headlines. What’s their history and how might their future affect space and life here on Earth?

On the evening of April 1, 1960, President Dwight Eisenhower saw the first image sent back from space by the Television InfraRed Observation Satellite (TIROS) 1 weather satellite—shaped, as some quipped, like “an enormous hatbox.”

John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22 and his funeral on November 25 occurred at a moment in which "live via satellite" was beginning to enter the Cold War world. Satellites broadcast information about his death around the world in a way never possible before.