NASA at Home: Virtual Tours and Apps - NASA (2024)

NASA is exploring our solar system and beyond, uncovering worlds, stars, and cosmic mysteries near and far with our powerful fleet of space and ground-based missions.

Explore our facilities. View our laboratories. Enter our operations control centers.

We invite you to tour NASAvirtuallyfrom the comfort of your home or convenience of your mobile device.

Artemis

RS-25 Rocket Engine Testing:NASA’s Stennis Space Center inMississippi conducted aseries of RS-25 rocket engine hot fire tests for NASA’s Space Launch System,which is being built for missions beyond low-Earth orbit that will carry crew and cargo to the Moon and destinations beyond.

International Space Station

Commercial Crew Program 360-Degree Virtual Reality Tour:NASA’s Commercial Crew Program works with commercial partners tolaunch astronauts to the International Space Station from U.S. soil on American-built rockets and spacecraft. These immersive videos share the story of groundbreaking innovation borne of this government-industry partnership.

International Space Station Tour: The International Space Station is a uniquescientific platform where astronauts conduct experiments across multiple disciplines of research– including Earth and space science, biology, human physiology, physical sciences, and technology demonstrations – that cannot be performed anywhere on Earth. In 2020, the station celebrated 20 years of a continuous human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Operations Centers

Explore Goddard’s Clean Room:James Webb Space Telescope’s Communications Lead Laura Betz takes usbehind the scenes inside the world’s largest clean roomat NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Explorewhere the Hubble Space Telescope was built and where its successor – the James Webb Space Telescope – was assembled. See the special gowning process engineers go through on a daily basis to enter this super clean environment. This tour gives you a 360-degree look from the unique filter wall to the storage of Webb’s 18 gold-plated mirrors. Check out Goddard’s Space Environment Simulator, a massive thermal vacuum chamber in which scientists and engineers cryotested the heart of the telescope, ISIM, by lowering the temperature of the structure to 42 Kelvin (-384.1 Fahrenheit or -231.1 Celsius) and below to ensure that it can withstand the frigid temperatures Webb will face 1 million miles out in space.

Robotic Operations Center (ROC): This 360-degreeviewof Goddard’s Robotic Operations Center (ROC) shows off itsunique hexapod robot, which helps engineers simulate the way a satellite moves in space.Drag the photo to explore the rest of the state-of-the-art facility. The ROC acts as an incubator for satellite servicing technologies that will allow for the repair, refueling, and upgrading of spacecraft. In this lab, robotic capabilities are tested in spacelike conditions before they are put to action in orbit.

Solar System

Planets of Other Stars

NASA’s Exoplanet Excursions:Aguided journey through the amazing TRAPPIST-1 star system,known to be thehome of seven Earth-size exoplanets orbiting a starthat is only a little larger than Jupiter. This also includes tours of the Spitzer Space Telescope and the ability to control the telescope yourself.

Exoplanet Travel Bureau:Explore 360-degreevisualizations of the surfaces of planets of other stars(and download free posters!). This works on desktops and mobile devices, and it is optimized for such viewers as Google Cardboard.

NASA Centers (with virtual tours)

NASA’s Ames Research Center Virtual Tour:NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, has led NASA in conducting world-class research and development in aeronautics, exploration technology, and science aligned with the center’s core capabilities.

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Virtual Tours:NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is NASA’s primary center for high-risk, atmospheric flight research and test projects. For almost 75 years, research at Armstrong has led to major advancements and breakthroughs in the design and capabilities of many state-of-the-art civil and military aircraft.

NASA’s Glenn Research Center Virtual Tours:NASA’sGlenn Research Center in Cleveland designs and develops innovative technology to advance NASA’s missions in aeronautics and space exploration.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Virtual Tour: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is humanity’s leading center for exploring where humans cannot yet reach. Its spacecraft have flown to every planet and the Sun in a quest to understand our place in the universe, and to search for the possibility of life beyond Earth.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center Virtual Tour: NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston is home to mission control andastronauttraining. It also leads International Space Station operations and expeditions, development of the Orion spacecraft, NASA’s Gateway outpost program, and numerous other advanced human exploration projects.

NASA’s Langley Research Center Virtual Tours: NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, works to makerevolutionary improvementsto aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere anddevelop technologyfor space exploration.It wasalso where NASA mathematicianKatherine Johnson worked.

Apps

Featured Apps

NASA selfie app:Put your photo in a virtual spacesuitin front of some of NASA’s most captivating space images.Access theNASA Selfie app for iOSor theNASA Selfie app for Google.

NASA app:This app offersnews and multimediafrom around the agency; other applications focus on individual NASA projects or research areas.

Aircraft and Aeronautics

Aeronautics augmented reality app:Learn about NASA’sX-57 Maxwell, X-59 QueSST, and G-III Gulfstream aircraftthrough an app that brings them onto your mobile phone.

“Next Stop: The Stratosphere”: Explore SOFIA, NASA’s flying observatory, aBoeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a 106-inch telescope.Scientists aboard SOFIA study stars, black holes, and more while flying between 38,000 and 45,000 feet.

Spacecraft

Spacecraft augmented reality app:Learn about andinteract with a variety of spacecraftthat explore our solar system, study Earth, and observe the universe.

Other Apps

Browse moreNASA appsand apps created byNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

We encourage you to visit these sites for additional activities and resources:

NASA’s Artemis Program,NASA’s STEM Engagement, andNASA Kids’ Club

If you are interested in having a NASA speaker give a virtual presentation to your class or organization, visit theSpeakers Bureau websiteand submit a request form.