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The mated Russian-built Zarya (left) and U.S.-built Unity modules are backdropped against the blackness of space and Earth's horizon shortly...
The first pieces of the International Space Station, the mated Russian-built Zarya (left) and U.S.-built Unity modules, are backdropped against the blackness of space and Earth's horizon. Zarya is cylinder-shaped and has solar panels that stick out from the body of the module.
The Moon, left, Saturn, upper right, and Jupiter, lower right, are seen after sunset from Washington, DC, Thurs. Dec. 17,...
The night sky is deep blue, framed at bottom left by leafless trees branches. At top left, the Moon glows. Saturn and Jupiter are visible at upper right and upper left, respectively.
If spacecraft are to visit the outer solar system, they must cross the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The...
In this illustration, the Pioneer 10 spacecraft flies through the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft is shown to the right of Jupiter (right), dwarfed by the planet's size. The white line representing Pioneer 10's path curls around Earth and past Jupiter. At the center, the Sun is represented in bright, luminous white and orange, while streaks of red, orange, purple, and black represent space. The image is dotted with spots of purple, blue, yellow, and white.
"Everyone needs an anchor from their community to motivate and inspire them to move forward. I want to be a...
A man wearing a tan flight suit flies in a blue-lit flight simulator. Navigation guidance and other controls light up the simulator’s front dashboard.
A cluster brimming with millions of stars glistens like an iridescent opal in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope....
A cluster brimming with millions of stars glistens like an iridescent opal in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called Omega Centauri, the sparkling orb of stars is like a miniature galaxy. It is the biggest and brightest of the 150 or so similar objects, called globular clusters, that orbit around the outside of our Milky Way galaxy. Stargazers at southern latitudes can spot the stellar gem with the naked eye in the constellation Centaurus. Globular clusters are some of the oldest objects in our universe. Their stars are over 12 billion years old, and, in most cases, formed all at once when the universe was just a toddler. Omega Centauri is unusual in that its stars are of different ages and possess varying levels of metals, or elements heavier than boron. Astronomers say this points to a different origin for Omega Centauri than other globular clusters: they think it might be the core of a dwarf galaxy that was ripped apart and absorbed by our Milky Way long ago. In this new view of Omega Centauri, Spitzer's infrared observations have been combined with visible-light data from the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Visible-light data with a wavelength of .55 microns is colored blue, 3.6-micron infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera is colored green and 24-micron infrared light taken by Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer is colored red. Where green and red overlap, the color yellow appears. Thus, the yellow and red dots are stars revealed by Spitzer. These stars, called red giants, are more evolved, larger and dustier. The stars that appear blue were spotted in both visible and 3.6-micron-, or near-, infrared light. They are less evolved, like our own sun. Some of the red spots in the picture are distant galaxies beyond our own.
The sun's first rays begin illuminating Earth's atmosphere in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 260...
In the distance, small points of light can be seen against the darkness of space. The sun's rays peek over Earth, creating a blue haze tinged with orange. On Earth, the city lights of Chicago, Illinois, (far left) and the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area (far right) shine.
A model of the Mariner-C spacecraft at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center for a June...
A black and white photo of a model of the Mariner-C spacecraft against a black backdrop. The spacecraft is tilted to the left. It has a conical shape, with two solar panels and a satellite dish at the bottom.
The spectacular aurora borealis, or the “northern lights,” over Canada is sighted from the space station near the highest point...
A green, fog-like haze stretches over Canada. At the edges of Earth’s atmosphere, the light takes on a purple-red color, eventually fading into the darkness of space. Some stars are faintly visible. At top left, a portion of the solar arrays of the International Space Station is backlit against the planet.
A disk of hot gas swirls around a black hole in this illustration from Dec. 20, 2022. A long stream...
Against a black background dotted with stars, a disk of hot red gas swirls around a black hole in this illustration. There is a long stream of hot gas extending out to the right, which is feeding into the disk, and a bright cloud of plasma hovering just above the center of the black hole.
NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins (left) and Rick Mastracchio, both Expedition 38 flight engineers, pose for a photo with a Thanksgiving...
NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins (left) and Rick Mastracchio smile for the camera while aboard the International Space Station. Hopkins holds a thin white sheet with Velcro on it, which secures the Thanksgiving foods shown, including green beans, smoked turkey, and stuffing.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 flight engineer Nicole Mann is pictured during a fit check of her spacesuit ahead of...
Astronaut Nicole Mann faces the camera and smiles. She is wearing a white spacesuit, which has an American flag patch on the left arm, and another patch on the right arm.
The NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s reveals a portion of the Milky Way’s dense core...
A crowded region of space, full of stars and colorful clouds, more than twice as wide as it is tall. A funnel-shaped region of space appears darker than its surroundings with fewer stars. It is wider at the top edge of the image, narrowing towards the bottom. Toward the narrow end of this dark region a small clump of red and white appears to shoot out streamers upward and left. A large, bright cyan-colored area surrounds the lower portion of the funnel-shaped dark area, forming a rough U shape. The cyan-colored area has needle-like, linear structures and becomes more diffuse in the center of the image. The right side of the image is dominated by clouds of orange and red, with a purple haze.
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., attired in his Mercury pressure suit, poses for a photo on May 5, 1961, prior...
Astronaut Alan Shepard smiles while wearing an all-silver pressure suit for the Mercury mission. He holds a white helmet in his hands.
NASA’s Space Launch System carrying the Orion spacecraft lifts off the pad at Launch Complex 39B at the agency’s Kennedy...
NASA's Space Launch System lifts off from the launch pad, illuminating the ground with a bright white light that bounces off of clouds of smoke. Pictured on the left side of this image is the liquid hydrogen "flare stack" where vented liquid hydrogen is burned off safely.
A 35mm camera, operated by astronaut William R. Pogue, Skylab 4 pilot, recorded this wide scene of his Skylab 4...
A view from Skylab's airlock hatch, looking down the length of the orbiting workshop. Skylab has a hexagon shape, with metal mesh floors that you can see through. Equipment lines the walls, and at center, two astronauts, Edward G. Gibson (left, in a white t-shirt) and Jerry P. Carr (right, in a brown t-shirt) smile for the camera. Also in frame are parts of three spacesuits.
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility C-130 aircraft delivered the agency’s Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO) payload to McMurdo Station, Antarctica,...
Tractors and other heavy machinery rest on the snowy plain in the foreground. In the middle of the image, a dark gray aircraft sits on the ground as a smaller white aircraft, NASA's C-130, lands.
In this photo from Nov. 9, 2023, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket illuminates the water as it launches at night...
SpaceX's Cargo Dragon launches from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in its 29th commercial resupply mission. The rocket's engines are glowing brightly as it takes off through the dark night sky, and the light illuminates the water below.
A sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, Nov. 8, 2023, carrying the DISSIPATION mission. The...
A long-exposure photograph of a sounding rocket launching into a night sky highlighted by aurora. The sounding rocket is a bright white streak, leaving from a snow-covered ground and moving from bottom left to upper right. A small break in the streak represents the first stage of the rocket burning out and the second stage igniting. A soft, green aurora frames the edges of the image, with many white stars speckled through the black sky. A bright green line toward the top of the frame is a lidar beam. A fisheye lens was used for the photograph, creating a curve for the ground and lidar beam.
Casey Denham, aerospace engineer with the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, works...
Casey Denham, a Meskwaki woman, leans over to help two tribal students with a STEM project. The children sit at a white round table. Each of them holds wires in their hands. The black and red wires are connected to paper cups.
The spiral galaxy IC 342, located about 11 million light-years from Earth, lies behind the crowded plane of the Milky...
A big spiral galaxy is visible face-on in white/pink colours at the centre of this square astronomical image. The galaxy covers almost the entire image and appears whiter at its centre where more stars are located. Its spiral arms stretch out across the image and appear fainter at the edges. The entire image is speckled with stars ranging in colour from blue to white to yellow/red, across a black background of space. Blue stars are younger and red stars are older. A few of the stars are a bit larger than the rest, with six diffraction spikes.
The NASA Worm Logo sign is unveiled before the ribbon cutting ceremony to open NASA’s Earth Information Center, Wednesday, June...
A red sign reading "NASA" in the "worm" logotype created in the 1970s stands before a crowd of people clapping and taking pictures. The red three-dimensional letters rest on a black platform, which is on a blue carpet in front of the Earth Information Center at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals an ultraviolet view of Jupiter.
Jupiter looks iridescent in this ultraviolet image from the Hubble Space Telescope. The poles are a muted orange color, while swirls and stripes of pink, orange, blue, and purple cover the rest of the planet. Jupiter's "Great Red Spot" appears a deep blue here.
6,500 light-years away lies the Crab Nebula, the remains of an exploded star. While this target has been well-studied by...
The Crab Nebula is an oval nebula with complex structure against a black background. On the nebula’s exterior, particularly at the top left and bottom left, lie curtains of glowing red and orange fluffy material. Its interior shell shows large-scale loops of mottled filaments of yellow-white and green, studded with clumps and knots. Translucent thin ribbons of smoky white lie within the remnant’s interior, brightest toward its center. The white material follows different directions throughout, including sometimes sharply curving away from certain regions within the remnant. A faint, wispy ring of white material encircles the very center of the nebula. Around and within the supernova remnant are many points of blue, red, and yellow light.
This nighttime view from the International Space Station shows the city lights of the northeastern United States and major urban...
The city lights of the northeastern United States are visible from the International Space Station. The rest of the surrounding land is mostly dark, as is space. At left, part of the orbital lab and a docking port on a Russian space station module are visible.
On Sept. 7, 2023, during its 54th close flyby of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno mission captured this view of an area...
The image shows turbulent clouds and storms along Jupiter’s terminator, the dividing line between the day and night sides of the planet. The low angle of sunlight highlights the complex topography of features in this region, which scientists have studied to better understand the processes playing out in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
This image, taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station, shows the reddish-brown waters of the Betsiboka River Delta...
The waters of the Betsiboka River Delta, as seen from the International Space Station, are a vibrant orange. From left to right, the river branches off into many pathways, looking almost like the roots of a tree.
Maricela Lizcano poses inside NASA Glenn Research Center’s Aerospace Communications Facility.
Maricela Lizcano stands inside NASA Glenn Research Center’s Aerospace Communications Facility. She is wearing a teal jacket and behind her there are mathematical equations on the wall.
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems conducts a water flow test with the mobile launcher at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B...
A large amount of water cascades over the edges of the gray mobile launcher at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Droplets of water also spray up through the air, creating a mist.
An engineer prepares a small rover – part of NASA's CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) technology demonstration that's headed...
An engineer in white protective gear, a blue mask, and glasses works on a small rover. The rover is small enough to fit on a black tabletop. The rover has a flat top and four gear-like wheels.
A storm is pictured in the Arabian Sea less than 700 miles off the coast of Oman as the International...
A storm, seen as massive, swirling white clouds dominates this image of Earth from the International Space Station. Peeking out from underneath the clouds and at the storm's edges is the deep blue of the Arabian Sea. In the background (top of image) is the curve of Earth, bordered by the darkness of space.
Former flight test instructor and current NASA test pilot Nils Larson reunited with former student and current astronaut Victor Glover...
Nils Larson, X59 pilot and Astronaut Victor Glover walking side-by-side.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, second from right, NASA associate administrator Bob Cabana, far right, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy...
A group of 17 people sit and stand in a circle in a meeting area in an office. There are rocket models and space-themed imagery decorating the space. Everyone looks toward NASA administrator Bill Nelson, second from right, as he speaks.
On October 14, 2023, the Moon aligned with the Sun and Earth to produce an annular solar eclipse. The spectacle...
A full disc image of Earth in which North and South America are visible. The Moon casts a dark brown shadow in the top left quadrant.
The Moon passes in front of the Sun during the annular solar eclipse in this photograph taken by Expedition 70...
The Sun appears as a white disc in the darkness of space. The Moon begins to pass in front of it on the left, making it look like there's a circular portion of the Sun missing.
The north coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur on the Pacific Ocean is pictured from the International...
The north coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur on the Pacific Ocean is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above. The land is brown, with some smaller bodies of water. The northern coastline is scalloped. A few streaks of clouds stretch across land and water, but the sky is mostly cloudless.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is launched from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023,...
In the distance, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches with the Psyche spacecraft onboard. They are gray and almost blend in with the sky. A bright blaze extends from the bottom of the rocket and clouds of smoke roll just above the trees. Palm trees on the right take up the majority of the foreground.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the horizontal...
In the foreground, a plant with several small white and yellow flowers is in focus near a grassy hill. In the distance, the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and Psyche spacecraft roll out of a large rectangular building with "SpaceX" and an American flag on the side.
It’s easy to get swept up in the swirling starry arms of this intermediate spiral galaxy, NGC 4654, in the...
A bright spiral galaxy fills the frame from the lower-right to the upper-left. The galaxy is tilted toward us and holds bright blue-white stars and reddish-brown dust lanes that showcase its spiral nature.
“I think the experience of putting yourself in an uncomfortable environment and coming at the other end with lessons learned...
Alfonso Davila, a Hispanic person, stands in front of a building that is softly out of focus. He wears a black shirt with rolled up sleeves.
This feature looks a bit like a bear's face. What is it really? There's a hill with a V-shaped collapse...
A geographical feature on Mars looks like the face of a bear in this black and white image acquired by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.