Flag flies at half-staff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on the day after seven astronauts died in the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia on its way to a landing in Florida.

An artist's concept of NASA's InSight lander, its sensors, cameras and instruments. InSight was designed to take the first-ever in-depth look at Mars' 'inner space.' (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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HISTORY

1972

<p>Space exploration, one of the greatest technological achievements in human history, includes the Apollo missions, the Space Shuttles Columbia and Challenger, and people like Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.</p>


Space Exploration

1976

2011

1967

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">African Americans have played a central role in shaping U.S. history. From slavery and its abolition to the Great Migration, the civil rights movement and military, scientific, cultural and political achievements, explore key moments, milestones and figures in Black History.</div>
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NASA

Stories

When Sally Ride Took Her First Space Flight, Sexism Was the Norm

Life on Mars? The Search for Signs Goes Back Centuries

The 5 Deadliest Disasters of the Space Race

How the Search for Little Green Men—or Any Life on Mars—Got Smarter

This Day in History

NASA’s final space shuttle mission comes to an end

Guion S. Bluford becomes the first African American to travel to space

Pathfinder lands on Mars

NASA unveils its first space shuttle, the Enterprise

Last lunar-landing mission ends

Astronauts die in launch pad fire