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A Beehive of Satellites
February 12, 2009 A Beehive of Satellites

The launch of the first artificial satellite by the then Soviet Union in 1957 marked the beginning of the utilization of space for science and commercial...

World's Largest Vacuum Chamber
February 11, 2009 World's Largest Vacuum Chamber

The Space Power Facility at NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, houses the world's largest vacuum chamber. It measures...

Flare
February 10, 2009 Flare

Gamma-ray flares from SGR J1550-5418 may have arisen when the magnetar's surface suddenly cracked, releasing energy stored within its powerful magnetic...

The Reviewing Stand
February 09, 2009 The Reviewing Stand

Astronaut Rex Walheim pauses before the reviewing stand during the 56th Inaugural Parade on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. He is wearing a prototype of NASA's...

Self Portrait
February 09, 2009 Self Portrait

Expedition 18 commander Michael Fincke prepared to take a picture of his helmet visor with a digital camera during a Dec. 23, 2008, spacewalk outside...

The Next Generation
February 06, 2009 The Next Generation

The development of NASA's next-generation crew launch vehicle, the Ares I rocket, took another step forward as Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, successfully...

Spirit Soldiers On
February 05, 2009 Spirit Soldiers On

The hazard avoidance camera on the front of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image after a drive on the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, (Jan....

A Black Hole Overflows From Galaxy Centaurus A
February 04, 2009 A Black Hole Overflows From Galaxy Centaurus A

This image of Centaurus A shows a spectacular new view of a supermassive black hole's power. Jets and lobes powered by the central black hole in this...

Menagerie of Stars
February 03, 2009 Menagerie of Stars

A violent and chaotic-looking mass of gas and dust is seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image of a nearby supernova remnant. Denoted N 63A, the object...

Making Way for the Next Generation of Spacecraft
February 02, 2009 Making Way for the Next Generation of Spacecraft

In the rosy light of dawn, construction continues on the new lightning protection system for the Constellation Program on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy...

NASA Remembers
January 29, 2009 NASA Remembers

NASA Acting Administrator Christopher Scolese and other NASA senior management participate in a wreath-laying ceremony as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance,...

Nestled Within
January 28, 2009 Nestled Within

The unique planetary nebula NGC 2818 is nested inside the open star cluster NGC 2818A. Both the cluster and the nebula reside over 10,000 light-years...

Preparing for the Challenge
January 27, 2009 Preparing for the Challenge

This image shows the Ares I-X Launch Abort System simulator as it was backed into the NASA Langley hangar. Two extra-length flatbed trucks will be rolled...

Preparing for Another World
January 26, 2009 Preparing for Another World

Though at first glance this may appear to be a scene of an unmanned vehicle on a Mars landscape, it is actually a photo of NASA's Lunar Electric Rover...

Aloft
January 23, 2009 Aloft

This image, taken through a telescope, is of the newly designed super pressure balloon aloft over Antarctica. NASA and the National Science...

Lunar Lander at the 2009 Inaugural Parade
January 20, 2009 Lunar Lander at the 2009 Inaugural Parade

President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden watch as the NASA Lunar Electric Rover stops in front of the Presidential reviewing...

Santorini Panorama
January 12, 2009 Santorini Panorama

This panorama shows the vista from which NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity spent five weeks in November and December 2008 while the sun was nearly...

Rolling to the Start
January 08, 2009 Rolling to the Start

Space shuttle Discovery rolled out of Orbiter Processing Facility 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on its way to the Vehicle Assembly Building (in the...

The Universe in Black and White
January 07, 2009 The Universe in Black and White

Contained within the most massive and active star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, star cluster NGC 346 delivers energetic radiation that...

The Towers
January 06, 2009 The Towers

On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a crane completes construction of one of the towers in the new lightning protection system for the Constellation...

Lonely Galaxy
January 05, 2009 Lonely Galaxy

Astronomers have long puzzled over why a small, nearby, isolated galaxy is pumping out new stars faster than any galaxy in our local neighborhood.

Stellar Fireworks
December 31, 2008 Stellar Fireworks

Looking for all the world like a New Year's fireworks display, this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the nasty effects of living near a...

Ready for a Lift
December 30, 2008 Ready for a Lift

After dark at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour was attached to the sling that lifted it...

A Gem of a Find
December 29, 2008 A Gem of a Find

These Martian rocks, containing a hydrated mineral similar to opal, are light-toned and appear cream-colored in this false-color image taken by the High...

Happy Holidays From Cassini!
December 28, 2008 Happy Holidays From Cassini!

The Cassini-Huygens mission team sends their best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe holiday season. We've enjoyed sharing the stunning images and exciting...

Glittering Metropolis of Stars
December 23, 2008 Glittering Metropolis of Stars

Like swirling, shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe, this image captures an instantaneous glimpse of many hundreds of thousands of stars moving about...

Three Craters
December 22, 2008 Three Craters

This computer graphic shows three craters in the eastern Hellas region of Mars tha containing concealed glaciers that were detected by radar.

Peek-A-Boo Moon
December 19, 2008 Peek-A-Boo Moon

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope caught Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, seemingly playing a game of peek-a-boo in this image from April 2007. Ganymede is shown...

Titan's Haze
December 18, 2008 Titan's Haze

Layers of haze covering Saturn's moon Titan are seen in this image taken by Voyager 1 on Nov. 12, 1980 at a range of 13,700 miles (22,000 kilometers)....

A Tectonic Feast
December 16, 2008 A Tectonic Feast

On Oct. 5, 2008, just after coming within about 15 miles of the surface of Enceladus, NASA's Cassini captured this stunning mosaic as the spacecraft sped...

Drama in the Heart of the Tarantula
December 15, 2008 Drama in the Heart of the Tarantula

Enormous stars in the Tarantula Nebula, one of the largest massive star-forming regions close to the Milky Way, are producing intense radiation and searing...

A Scientist on the Moon
December 12, 2008 A Scientist on the Moon

Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt stands by the American flag during a moonwalk on the Apollo 17 mission. Home, that small dot in the blackness...

Fly Away Home
December 11, 2008 Fly Away Home

Atop a modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft, space shuttle Endeavour began the journey from Edwards Air Force Base on the first leg of its ferry flight...

Making the Grade
December 03, 2008 Making the Grade

STS-126 pilot Eric Boe inspects the liquid oxygen line connection on the belly of space shuttle Endeavour, following landing at Edwards Air Force Base...

The Setting Sun
December 02, 2008 The Setting Sun

The setting sun casts long shadows over space shuttle Endeavour as technicians prepare to move the orbiter from the runway at Edwards Air Force Base where...

Homecoming in California
December 01, 2008 Homecoming in California

Space shuttle Endeavour touches down at Edwards Air Force Base on Nov. 30, 2008, concluding the STS-126 mission. This image captures Endeavour's drag...

Being First
November 20, 2008 Being First

STS-126 astronaut Steve Bowen and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper (out of frame) worked to clean and lubricate part of the station's starboard Solar Alpha...

Flight Day 1
November 17, 2008 Flight Day 1

Not long after the opening of the payload bay doors on space shuttle Endeavour, the crew was able to get a first look at cargo and hardware located in...

Celebrating Apollo 8
November 13, 2008 Celebrating Apollo 8

Nearly 40 years after their historic flight, the crew of Apollo 8 reunited as part of a special public program produced in cooperation with the Newseum...

Roll Around
November 12, 2008 Roll Around

Palmetto trees frame space shuttle Endeavour as it rolls toward Launch Pad 39A after earlier moving off Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center...

Still Shining
November 11, 2008 Still Shining

The deck of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was so dusty that it almost blended into the dusty background in this image assembled from frames taken...

Illusion and Evolution
November 07, 2008 Illusion and Evolution

What's happening to the galaxies of cluster Abell 2667? On the upper left, a galaxy appears to be breaking up into small pieces, while on the far right,...

Hubble Scores a Perfect Ten
November 05, 2008 Hubble Scores a Perfect Ten

Just a few days after the orbiting observatory was brought back online, Hubble aimed its prime working camera, the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2),...

Witch Head Nebula
October 31, 2008 Witch Head Nebula

As the name implies, this reflection nebula associated with the star Rigel looks suspiciously like a fairytale crone. Formally known as IC 2118 in the...

Ares V
October 29, 2008 Ares V

This schlieren photo depicts a wind tunnel test demonstrating air flow over the .331 percent model of the Ares V heavy cargo launch vehicle at Mach 4.5....

The Shuttle Enterprise
October 24, 2008 The Shuttle Enterprise

In 1976, NASA's space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities and was greeted by NASA officials and cast members from the...

Light the Candle
October 23, 2008 Light the Candle

Astronaut Alan Shepard is hurled into space atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket. Freedom 7 was the first American manned suborbital space flight, making Shepard...

Layered
October 16, 2008 Layered

This striking image of a mound within the area of a trough cutting into Mars' north polar layered deposits was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science...

Unfurling
October 15, 2008 Unfurling

The STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft observed this visually stunning prominence eruption on Sept. 29, 2008, in the 304 wavelength of extreme UV light. Prominences...

The Future Begins
October 14, 2008 The Future Begins

Forty years ago today, on Oct. 14, 1968, Apollo 7 transmitted the first live broadcast from a manned U.S. spacecraft. In this image, Apollo...

Massive Young Stars Trigger Stellar Birth
October 08, 2008 Massive Young Stars Trigger Stellar Birth

About 4,000 light years from Earth lies RCW 108, a region where stars are actively forming within the Milky Way galaxy. The region contains young star...

Greetings From the Space Station
October 02, 2008 Greetings From the Space Station

Expedition 14 commander Michael E. Lopez-Alegria (left) and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, conduct...

Apollo 9
September 30, 2008 Apollo 9

Astronaut Russell Schweickart, lunar module pilot, stands on the module's deck during his spacewalk on the fourth day of the Apollo 9 mission. This photograph...

Celebration
September 29, 2008 Celebration

Music legend Quincy Jones, center, wa presented with a montage by astronaut Leland Melvin, right, as hip-hop artist/producer Pharrell Williams looks on...

Into the Blue Sky
September 18, 2008 Into the Blue Sky

Atlantis rockets into the blue sky above Launch Pad 39A after liftoff on the STS-117 mission. Beneath Atlantis' main engines are blue cones of light,...

Rollout
September 16, 2008 Rollout

As space shuttle Atlantis rolls out to the pad an onlooker views its progress from inside the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in...

Purple Haze, Part Deux
September 12, 2008 Purple Haze, Part Deux

A massive cluster of galaxies located about 2.3 billion light years away, Abell 1689, shows signs of merging activity. Hundred-million-degree gas detected...

NASA Remembers
September 11, 2008 NASA Remembers

"The world changed today. What I say or do is very minor compared to the significance of what happened to our country today when it was attacked."

Flaming Star Nebula and Meteor
September 10, 2008 Flaming Star Nebula and Meteor

This photo shows the Flaming Star Nebula, in the constellation Auriga, a meteor streak and the very dim Comet 46/P Wirtanen

Obscure Moon
September 09, 2008 Obscure Moon

Just before Rhea slipped behind Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft captured the moon in its disappearing act. Along with the partly obscured Rhea (949 miles, or 1,528 kilometers across) are Tethys (665 miles, or 1,071 kilometers across), at right, and Enceladus (314 miles, or 505 kilometers across), left of Tethys.

Rosetta Spacecraft Passes Asteroid Steins
September 08, 2008 Rosetta Spacecraft Passes Asteroid Steins

What's that diamond in the sky? Cruising though space, sometimes you'll come across an unusual object. Such was the case on Friday for ESA's Rosetta spacecraft on it's way to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.

Milky Way Road Trip
September 05, 2008 Milky Way Road Trip

In search of planets and the summer Milky Way, astronomer Tunç Tezel took an evening road trip. Last Saturday, after driving the winding road up Uludag, a mountain near Bursa, Turkey, he was rewarded by this beautiful skyview to the south.

Spokes in the Helix Nebula
September 04, 2008 Spokes in the Helix Nebula

At first glance, the Helix Nebula (aka NGC 7293), looks simple and round. But this well-studied example of a planetary nebula, produced near the end of the life of a sun-like star, is now understood to have a surprisingly complex geometry.

Pahoehoe Break-Out
September 03, 2008 Pahoehoe Break-Out

This photo shows a break-out channel in a pahoehoe lava (basaltic lava that has a smooth, ropy surface) flow about a mile or so away from the Royal Gardens subdivision in the southeastern region of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Generations of Stars in W5
August 29, 2008 Generations of Stars in W5

Giant star forming region W5 is over 200 light-years across and about 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. W5's sculpted clouds of cold gas and dust seem to form fantastic shapes in this impressive mosaic of infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Ice Donuts
August 28, 2008 Ice Donuts

These "ice donuts" are a common sight in river channels, during late winter, near South Haven, Michigan. Their origin isn’t completely understood, but they may form when wind and wave action begins to disintegrate the icy surface, once the ice has already been fractured into meter-sized polygons.

Morning Frost on the Surface of Mars
August 27, 2008 Morning Frost on the Surface of Mars

A thin layer of water frost is visible on the ground around NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in this image taken by the Surface Stereo Imager at 6 a.m. on Sol 79 (August 14, 2008), the 79th Martian day after landing. The frost began to disappear shortly after 6 a.m. as the sun rose on the Phoenix landing site.

Sculpting the South Pillar
August 26, 2008 Sculpting the South Pillar

Found in the South Pillar region of the Carina Nebula, these fantastic pillars of glowing dust and gas embedded with newborn stars were sculpted by the intense wind and radiation from Eta Carinae and other massive stars.

Magnetic Monster in Erupting Galaxy
August 25, 2008 Magnetic Monster in Erupting Galaxy

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found an answer to a long-standing puzzle by resolving giant but delicate filaments shaped by a strong magnetic field around the active galaxy NGC 1275. It is the most striking example of the influence of the immense tentacles of extragalactic magnetic fields, say researchers.

Fresh Lava on Hawaii
August 22, 2008 Fresh Lava on Hawaii

The photo above shows lava pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the Big Island of Hawaii as observed on March 8, 2008. Volcanoes National Park was closed for several days due to the march of the lava to the sea, and thus a helicopter was the best choice to see the Earth's freshest surface and the resulting steam created where the lava falls into the sea.

August Moons
August 21, 2008 August Moons

This August was eclipse season. The month's first New Moon and Full Moon were both seen in darkened skies during a solar and lunar eclipse.

The Life of Stars
August 19, 2008 The Life of Stars

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured this stunning true-color picture of the giant galactic nebula NGC 3603 on March 5, 1999 with its Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.

Auroral Substorm
August 19, 2008 Auroral Substorm

An extremely dynamic auroral display, which was observed from northern Finland on March 14, 2004 at 2:29 a.m. The observed auroral arcs and structures depicted here were moving and changing almost fluid-like.

Arctic Eclipse
August 18, 2008 Arctic Eclipse

NASA's Terra satellite was rounding the top of the globe, making its way from the eastern tip of Siberia and across the Arctic Ocean towards northern Norway and northwest Russia, when it captured this unique view of a total solar eclipse on Aug. 1, 2008.

In Living Color
August 15, 2008 In Living Color

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals the center of the magnificent barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512 in all wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared. The colors (which indicate differences in light intensity) map where newly born star clusters exist in both 'dusty' and 'clean' regions of the galaxy.

Piercing the Darkness
August 14, 2008 Piercing the Darkness

A sliver of 'ringshine' pierces the darkness in this view that looks toward the unilluminated side of Saturn's rings. The ring shadows fall into darkness beyond the terminator in the north. South of the equator, a dim glow brightens the darkened globe. This light, called ringshine, comes from sunlight reflected off the sunward side of the expansive rings (the opposite face of the ringplane from this perspective).

The Unveiling
August 13, 2008 The Unveiling

On its 100,000th orbit of planet Earth, the Hubble Space Telescope peered into a small portion of the Tarantula Nebula near the star cluster NGC 2074, unveiling its stellar nursery. The region is a firestorm of raw stellar creation, triggered perhaps by a nearby supernova.

A Look at Maui in Near-Infrared Light
August 12, 2008 A Look at Maui in Near-Infrared Light

This photo of the West Maui Mountains, looking west, was taken during a flight to Kahului, Hawaii. It was captured with a near-infrared optimized camera.

Black Hole Candidate Cygnus X-1
August 11, 2008 Black Hole Candidate Cygnus X-1

Is that a black hole? Quite possibly. The Cygnus X-1 binary star system contains one of the best candidates for a black hole.

Dark Clouds of the Carina Nebula
August 08, 2008 Dark Clouds of the Carina Nebula

What dark forms lurk in the mists of the Carina Nebula? These ominous figures are actually molecular clouds, knots of molecular gas and dust so thick they have become opaque. In comparison, however, these clouds are typically much less dense than Earth's atmosphere.

At the Sun's Edge
August 07, 2008 At the Sun's Edge

A train trip on the Trans-Siberian railway to Novosibirsk resulted in this stunning view along the edge of the Sun recorded during the August 1st total solar eclipse. The picture is a composite of two images taken at special moments in the eclipse sequence, corresponding to the very beginning and the very end of the total eclipse phase.

Edouard in the Gulf
August 06, 2008 Edouard in the Gulf

This image, taken from aboard the International Space Station flight engineer Greg Chamitoff, is of Tropical Storm Edouard as it moved westward along the northern edge of the Gulf of Mexico on the morning of Monday, Aug. 4, 2008.

A Different View of the Sun
August 05, 2008 A Different View of the Sun

On Aug. 1, 2008 a total solar eclipse was visible in parts of Canada, northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China. The eclipse swept across Earth in a narrow path that began in Canada’s northern territory of Nunavut and ended in northern China's Silk Road region. Unfortunately, the eclipse was not visible in most of North America.

Moon Games
August 01, 2008 Moon Games

The Moon's measured diameter is around 3,476 kilometers (2,160 miles). But apparent angular size, or the angle covered by an object, can also be important to Moon enthusiasts.

Total Eclipse
August 01, 2008 Total Eclipse

On August 1, a total solar eclipse was visible in parts of Canada, northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia and China. The eclipse swept across Earth in a narrow path that began in Canada’s northern province of Nunavut and ended in northern China’s Silk Road region.