Innovation Now

During the spring season, more than two million acres in Kansas are intentionally burned to manage invasive species and improve cattle grazing.

NASA learned how to make fuel from thin Martian air. That same technology is being used to help clean up oil fields on Earth.

NASA airborne data provide key information to help wildland firefighters.

Labor Day often means barbecues or beach trips for Americans. Parades have been part of the festivities even before Labor Day became an official national holiday in 1894.

To track climate patterns, NASA needed to measure the height of the world’s oceans from space, but existing GPS data wasn’t precise enough for this scientific challenge.

On Earth, 3D printed tissue collapses under its own weight. But in space, things are a bit different.

Thanks to some clever engineering, NASA’s Voyager 2 has enough power to continue doing science in interstellar space.

Orbiting spacecraft can map Martian ice deposits far below the surface, but they are blind to the top layers of regolith, where ice would be most accessible.

Farmers walk an agricultural tightrope: use too little fertilizer and crops fail. Use too much, and it washes away, polluting local water.

Distractions are everywhere. But these smart glasses use a NASA invention to help students train their brains to pay attention.

Roman will test new technologies for space-based planet hunting.

Technology that dressed the Apollo astronauts is being used to launch a fleet of modern airships.

The scan that keeps checkout lines moving has a cosmic origin.

NASA is planning air taxi rides that can keep travelers feeling good.

Volunteers from around the world have made one billion classifications on Zooniverse.

A radio designed for NASA, now tracks flights over the most remote parts of the globe, eliminating air traffic blind spots.

Before NASA sends DAVINCI to Venus, scientists traveled to Utah to see if the instruments can do the job.

Solar storms may have far worse effects on our technology than previously thought.

Dry thunderstorms popped up over the Cascades on the evening of July 15th, peppering Oregon and Washington with thousands of lightning strikes.

The EPIC team is using a quadrotor drone to test flexible sensors that could be securely attached to parachute material.

NASA is hoping to give wings to mixed reality simulators as a safer, cost-effective training tool for future Earth aviators as well as pilots on space missions.

When integrated into the new Lunar Terrain Vehicle, AIRES and L-MAPS will help support human exploration on the Moon.

Magellan was the first deep space probe launched by a space shuttle, and the first spacecraft to provide direct evidence of volcanic action on Venus.

On the Moon or Mars, a machine that drops a weight at high speeds could effectively locate underground sanctuaries for planetary explorers.

NASA is looking at ways to manufacture the nutrients astronauts will need for long-duration space missions.

The lunar surface is constantly interacting with the Sun.

Far beyond the reach of our solar system lies a dim red dwarf star, Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our own Sun.

Operating robots in deep space or the deep sea presents the same challenge: communication delays that require machines to think for themselves.

A device built to save seedlings in space became a global standard for clean air and fresh food.

NASA has selected SpaceX to help advance communications for next year’s Artemis III mission.

A camera built to record a spacecraft’s splashdown has become a widely adopted tool in automotive safety testing.

Artemis III will set the stage to land astronauts on the Moon again.

Summer isn’t over in the Northern Hemisphere. There may still be sweltering days ahead.

Some of the most exciting discoveries in the universe are often in some of the hardest places to reach.

This NASA solution for sliding aircraft became a global standard for highway and pedestrian safety.

Scientists have confirmed there’s frozen water on Mars. But there is a challenge. Martian water is full of toxic chemicals.

The temperature is scorching and you’re stuck in traffic with an air conditioner that’s blowing warm air.

Before a new aircraft can take its first flight, its design must be proven.

In preparing to visit the Moon’s surface, soon-to-be lunar explorers in NASA’s Apollo program first tackled a variety of unfamiliar landscapes on Earth.

In celebration of X-59’s recent supersonic flights, NASA’s Quesst mission released images of this unique aircraft in action for use on your electronic devices.

Appearing as a green speck on the Martian surface, NASA’s Perseverance rover was spotted by the HiRise camera, just before it marked its marathon milestone.

It’s summertime. Look up and you might catch a meteor streaking across the sky.

Flight testing is a team sport.

Throughout the 2026 World Cup, state and local organizations have used NASA air quality data to provide a clear picture of the air that players and fans are breathing.

Through the commercialization of life-preserving technologies, NASA remains at the heart of health solutions.

During hurricane season, NASA delivers storm data from satellites, timely flood maps, power outage insights, landslide risk assessments, and more to many state and federal partners, including NOAA.

NASA is working with the Smithsonian Institution, monitoring vegetation changes to aid in earlier eruption warnings.

Dust plays a role in making new molecules of interstellar space.

ERNEST trundled its way across the Colorado Desert in California to see if it has what it takes to rove on the Moon.

With a continuous human presence on the International Space Station, at least one American since 2001 has spent the Fourth of July in orbit.