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In 1977, NASA sent a message about our world to the stars.

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How the tragedy of the 1986 Challenger mission changed space exploration forever.

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Take the Next Giant Leap with NASA and Minecraft

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Take the Next Giant Leap with NASA and Minecraft

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Take the Next Giant Leap With NASA and Minecraft

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Students will learn basic rocket engineering and mechanics as they build and launch their rocket in Minecraft's "Artemis: Rocket Build" mission.

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No texting. No TikTok. No Netflix. Why? Because if you want to find aliens, you’ve got to give some things up.

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This is the incredible story of the Apollo 13 disaster, which left three astronauts fighting for survival 240,000 miles from Earth.

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How well do you know your astronomical neighborhood? Let’s go on a trip through our solar system and explore the weird, the wild, and the beautiful all around us. Today, we are learning all about Earth’s Moon.

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Meet our Solar System - The Moon - Space Center Houston

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As our series concludes, we look at Earth's satellite, the Moon.

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The fascinating life of an analog astronaut

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The mystery of UFOs and the search for extraterrestrial life.

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How well do you know your astronomical neighborhood? Let’s go on a trip through our solar system and explore the weird, the wild, and the beautiful all around us. Today, we are learning all about Europa.

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Meet the Solar System: Europa - Space Center Houston

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Our journey through the solar system stops at one of Jupiter's moons that NASA will soon be exploring, Europa.

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A giant fireball is headed straight for a city in Russia. Now what?

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How well do you know your astronomical neighborhood? Let’s go on a trip through our solar system and explore the weird, the wild, and the beautiful all around us. Today, we are learning all about Pluto.

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Pluto was discovered on Feb. 18, 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh, with contributions from William H. Pickering. This period in astronomy was one of intense planet hunting, and Pickering was a prolific planet predictor.

In 1906, Percival Lowell, a wealthy Bostonian who had founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1894, started an extensive project in search of a possible ninth planet, which he termed "Planet X." By 1909, Lowell and Pickering had suggested several possible celestial coordinates for such a planet.

The search for Planet X did not resume until 1929, when the job was handed to Clyde Tombaugh, a 23-year-old Kansan who had just arrived at the Lowell Observatory. Tombaugh's task was to systematically image the night sky in pairs of photographs taken two weeks apart, then examine each pair and determine whether any objects had shifted position.

Using a machine called a blink comparator, he rapidly shifted back and forth between views of each of the plates to create the illusion of movement of any objects that had changed position or appearance between photographs.

On Feb. 18, after nearly a year of searching, Tombaugh discovered a possible moving object on photographic plates taken on Jan. 23 and Jan. 29.

Pluto officially became Pluto on March 24, 1930, when Burney's suggestion was adopted and announced to the world.

What's it made of?

Pluto is about two-thirds the diameter of Earth's Moon and probably has a rocky core surrounded by a mantle of water ice. Interesting ices like methane and nitrogen frost coat the surface. Due to its lower density, Pluto's mass is about one-sixth that of Earth's Moon.

Pluto's surface is characterized by mountains, valleys, plains, and craters. The temperature on Pluto can be as cold as -375 to -400 degrees Fahrenheit (-226 to -240 degrees Celsius).

Pluto has a thin, tenuous atmosphere that expands when it comes closer to the Sun and collapses as it moves farther away - similar to a comet. The main constituent is molecular nitrogen, though molecules of methane and carbon monoxide have also been detected.

When Pluto is close to the Sun, its surface ices sublimate (changing directly from solid to gas) and rise to temporarily form a thin atmosphere. Pluto's low gravity (about 6% of Earth's) causes the atmosphere to be much more extended in altitude than our planet's atmosphere. Pluto becomes much colder during the part of each year when it is traveling far away from the Sun. During this time, the bulk of the planet's atmosphere may freeze and fall as snow to the surface.

Can we live there?

You won't find many places in our solar system less hospitable to life than Pluto. The surface of Pluto is extremely cold, so it seems unlikely that life could exist there. At such cold temperatures, water, which is vital for life as we know it, is essentially rock-like. Pluto's interior is warmer, however, and some think there could even be an ocean deep inside.

Living and working on Pluto might be similar to being on the Moon, but the temperature extremes are so much worse, since it's further from the Sun.

How long is a year there? What about a day?

Pluto's orbit around the Sun is unusual compared to the planets: it's both elliptical and tilted, like a comet. It takes Pluto about 248 years to orbit the Sun once.

One day on Pluto takes about 153 hours. Its axis of rotation is tilted 57 degrees, so it spins almost on its side. Pluto also rotates from east to west like Venus and Uranus.

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Meet our Solar System - Pluto - Space Center Houston

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Pluto was discovered on Feb. 18, 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh, with contributions from William H. Pickering. This period in astronomy was one of intense planet hunting, and Pickering was a prolific planet predictor.

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Going to the bathroom in space is tough. A new toilet might make it easier.

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How well do you know your astronomical neighborhood? Let’s go on a trip through our solar system and explore the weird, the wild, and the beautiful all around us. Today, we are learning all about Neptune.

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There is a bunch of junk flying around our planet, and it's causing big problems. What can be done?

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How well do you know your astronomical neighborhood? Let’s go on a trip through our solar system and explore the weird, the wild, and the beautiful all around us. Today, we are learning all about Saturn.

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Meet our Solar System: Saturn - Space Center Houston

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Let's explore Saturn together and learn more about our astronomical neighborhood.

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How well do you know your astronomical neighborhood? Let’s go on a trip through our solar system and explore the weird, the wild, and the beautiful all around us. Today, we are learning all about Jupiter.

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Meet our Solar System: Jupiter - Space Center Houston

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A spotlight on Jupiter. Learning more about its name, what its made of and where it fits into our solar system.

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How well do you know your astronomical neighborhood? Let’s go on a trip through our solar system and explore the weird, the wild, and the beautiful all around us. Today, we are learning all about Mars.

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Meet Our Solar System: Mars - Space Center Houston

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Mars is known as the Red Planet. It's one of our closest neighbors in the solar system. Learn all about the planet in this blog post!

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How do astronauts prepare for spacewalking in zero gravity? They practice in a giant pool, called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, or NBL. Located at NASA’s Sonny Carter Training Facility near Johnson Space Center (JSC), the NBL serves as the perfect training center for astronauts as they prepare for their spaceflight

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Meet Our Solar System - Space Center Houston

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Check out the various blog posts describing different aspects of the Solar System

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You searched for Meet Our Solar System - Space Center Houston

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AS YOU READ, THINK ABOUT how the James Webb Space Telescope will contribute to scientists’ understanding of the universe.