NASACast: Universe Video

Take a look at Kennedy Space Center's rich legacy as the spaceport celebrates its 50th anniversary on July 1, 2012.

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is carried into space aboard a Pegasus rocket launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The NuSTAR mission is launching a telescope designed to find high-energy X-rays that will reveal previously invisible structures in the universe.

NASA's NuSTAR will use its X-ray eyes to scout for hidden black holes in the universe.

NASA's newest X-ray telescope will have a lengthy structure that unfolds in space, allowing it to see high-energy objects like feeding black holes.

Kennedy Space Center is propelled today by the same strengths that have made it the nation's most celebrated launch complex for nearly 50 years.

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has a team of scientists testing micro and nanotechnology to use on spacecraft. The goal is to reduce the reflection off the surface of the instruments so that the data does not get polluted by the scattered light. The carbon nanotubes that the team grows have proven to be 10 times better than the NASA Z306 paint, currently used on spacecraft instruments.

Building satellites isn't easy.

What do you do if you have a sample from another planet, and you want to find out if it contains a certain molecule...maybe even one that will reveal that the planet can sustain life? When scientists face a situation like this, they employ an amazing tool: the mass spectrometer. It does the hard work of separating out materials, allowing scientists to look very closely at a sample and see what's inside.

Two decades after launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has amassed a remarkable level of accomplishment.