New from NASA, an iPhone application

(courtesy of Apple)

NASA is coming to the iPhone. The US space agency announced that it has created a free NASA application for the popular Apple smartphone and the iPod Touch.

NASA said the application, available through the Apple App Store, provides "information, videos, images and news updates about NASA missions."

Users, for example, can track the International Space Station and other spacecraft orbiting the Earth and access NASA countdown clocks, NASA said.

NASA said the application was developed by its New Media Team at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

"We're excited to deliver a wide range of up-to-the-minute NASA content to iPhone and iPod Touch users," said Gary Martin, director of the New Ventures and Communications Directorate at Ames. "The NASA App provides an easy and interesting way for the public to experience space exploration."