
The distinctive curve of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and the greater Boston urban area are very clear of the northeastern coast of the United States in this image from NASA EarthKAM.

Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts are now dwarfed by Hanscom Air Force Base between them. NASA Terra satellite acquired this image in October 2006,

This spaceborne radar image shows the famous hook of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Cape, which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean about 100 kilometers 62 miles southeast of Boston.

This Seasat synthetic aperture radar image from Aug. 27, 1978, shows the Massachusetts coast from Nantucket Island in the south past Cape Cod and Boston to Cape Ann in the north.

iss072e311839 (Dec. 3, 2024) --- Boston Logan International Airport on Massachusetts Bay is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above.

Site of the original Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts (42.0N, 70.5), This detailed photo is rich in early American history. Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims first stepping stone on North America and site of Plymouth Colony is located just behind the natural breakwater on the south shore of Plymouth Bay seen in the middle of the photo. The through canal to the south is part of the Intercoastal Canal system. Cape Cod is just south of the canal.

iss072e394484 (Dec. 18, 2024) --- The gleaming New England coast from Massachusetts to Maine is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above Quebec, Canada.

STS001-11-173 (12-14 April 1981) --- Space shuttle Columbia's view of Cape Cod, Boston, Plymouth, Glouster, Providence, Lowell, Taunton, and Worcester. Photo credit: NASA

Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, E. Denise Simmons, left, holds a plaque presented to her by NASA Deputy Administrator Ms. Shana Dale during the NASA Future Forum event at the Museum of Science in Boston, MA, Thursday, September 18, 2008. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

During MIT's "Better MIT Innovation Week 2018," a group of experts discussed innovation as a critical component to and professional accomplishment. From left: Rebecca Chui, founder, RootsStudio; Reinaldo Normand, entrepreneur in residence, MIT; Douglas Terrier, NASA chief technologist; Linda Foster, chief technologist, Lockheed Martin. (Photo: Damian Barabonkov/MIT Technique)

STS036-151-225 (2 March 1990) --- Surrounded by waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound, the jutting Cape Cod feature caught the attention of the astronaut crewmembers aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis, 126 nautical miles above Earth. Parts of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are in bottom left corner. Plymouth Bay is in upper left corner. Center point coordinates are 42 degrees north latitude and 70 degrees west longitude. A large format Linhof camera (4" x 5" film) was used to expose the frame.

NASA Chief Technologist Douglas Terrier joined students, faculty and experts in Boston as part of MIT's "Better MIT Innovation Week 2018," a week-long program promoting leadership, entrepreneurship and action for a better future. During the February event, Terrier spoke about a culture of innovation at America's Space Program. (Photo: Damian Barabonkov/MIT Technique)

iss073e0982172 (Oct. 25, 2025) --- Boston, Massachusetts—home to America's first public park, public school, and subway system—is pictured at approximately 2:24 a.m. local time from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above the northeastern United States. Located on Boston Harbor, Boston Logan International Airport (center) opened in 1923 and handled 43.5 million passengers and 568 million pounds of cargo in 2024.

iss059e111579 (June 17, 2019) --- Boston, Massachusetts, Logan International Airport and Massachusetts Bay figure prominently in this photograph taken 255 miles above the Atlantic Ocean from the International Space Station.

From Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and extending to Long Island, this perspective view shows the varied topography of eastern New York State and parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

From Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River at the top of the image and extending to Long Island at the bottom this image shows the varied topography of eastern New York State and parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

From Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and extending to Long Island, this perspective view shows the varied topography of eastern New York State and parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

This anaglyph, from NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, shows the varied topography of eastern New York State and parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 3D glasses are necessary.

STS058-105-016 (18 Oct-1 Nov 1993) --- This photograph includes much of the heart of New England, stretching from Boston and Boston Harbor (lower left) across New Hampshire and Vermont to Lake Champlain (upper left), and up to southern Maine (Portland is just off the photo at right center). The colors in this photograph are less vivid than those in STS-58-81-038, because the color changes on the deciduous trees in central and northern New England were past their peak when this photograph was taken. North of Boston flows the Merrimack River (which forms part of the state boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire). It is delineated by the small industrial towns (Concord, Manchester, Nashua, Lowell) which grew up on its banks. The White Mountains of New Hampshire are seen near the center, and Mt. Washington (6,288 feet) is capped with snow.

iss069e037308 (July 26, 2023) -- Provincetown, Massachusetts is photographed from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the coast.

S82-41554 (1982) --- Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg, payload specialist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

S92-49243 (November 1992) --- Astronaut Laurence Young, Sc. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, payload specialist

KITE cavity aerodynamics & MIT 2 channel C.C.D. experimenters onboard the C-141 KAO (Massachusetts Insitiute of Technology)

NASA Terra spacecraft captured this imagery and data over Hurricane Sandy as the storm approached the U.S. east coast on Oct. 28, 2012. The image at left covers an area 250 miles 400 kilometers wide and extends from Massachusetts to Florida.

This radar image of the area surrounding Boston, Mass., shows how a spaceborne radar system distinguishes between densely populated urban areas and nearby areas that are relatively unsettled.
![Earth observation taken by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS. View of Cape Cod, Massachusetts downlinked in folder: CT [Connecticut]. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter.](https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/iss039e001739/iss039e001739~medium.jpg)
Earth observation taken by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS. View of Cape Cod, Massachusetts downlinked in folder: CT [Connecticut]. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter.

iss064e016786 (Dec. 30, 2020) --- This night time photograph of Boston, Massachusetts, was taken from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above Connecticut.

SL2-103-967 (22 June 1973) --- This view of lower New England, (41.5N, 72.0W) shows a rare cloud-free area stretching from northern Long Island across the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The total area covered by this photo is more than 25,000 square miles and includes all of Rhode Island, most of Massachusetts and Connecticut, part of New York and the coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Cod, Boston and the offshore islands are distinctive features. Photo credit: NASA

STS073-E-5099 (30 Oct. 1995) --- The entire coast of Massachusetts can be seen, from Martha's Vineyard and Buzzard's Bay in the foreground past the Boston metropolitan region. The frame was exposed with the Electronic Still Camera (ESC).

ISS023-E-024556 (14 April 2010) ---Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is the focus of this still image downlinked from the International Space Station while docked with the space shuttle Discovery.

iss063e068077 (Aug. 10, 2020) --- The International Space Station was orbiting over Quebec when an Expedition 63 crew member photographed Cape Cod Bay off the coast of Massachusetts.

iss070e039484 (Dec. 13, 2023) --- Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including Cape Cod Bay and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the notheastern United States.

iss065e069379 (May 25, 2021) --- Provincetown on the northern tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above the Atantic Ocean.

Dr. Robert H. Goddard's tower and shelter at the Army artillery range at Camp Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts in the winter of 1929-1930. Goddard originally began testing rockets on his aunt's farm in Auburn, Massachusetts until the local police, fire department and townspeople became concerned about the noise and menace to the public the rockets created. Although Goddard maintained that the rockets were not a danger, he soon moved to Camp Devens, Massachusetts. There he was able to launch the rockets without attracting attention. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b>

August Witt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, principal investigator for the research program designed to lead to the identification and control of gravitational effects which adversely impact, through their interference with the growth process, the achievement of critical application specific properties in opto-electronic materials.

iss061e026260 (Nov. 1, 2019) --- NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, attached to foot restraints inside the Kibo laboratory module from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), participates in interviews with journalists from Bangor, Maine and Boston, Massachusetts.

S115-E-07114 (17 Sept. 2006) --- This nadir photo of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, taken on Sept. 17, 2006 at 18:13:44 GMT, was part of a series in this area captured by the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis's STS-115 mission. Photo credit: NASA

iss062e046805 (Feb. 22, 2020) --- This oblique view of the northeastern United States highlights the coasts (left to right) of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. The International Space Station was orbiting 265 miles above the Atlantic Ocean when this photograph was taken by an Expedition 62 crewmember.

iss072e186812 (Nov. 14, 2024) --- The city lights along the New England coast of the United States including New Haven, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts, are pictured from the United States as it orbited 254 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.

S115-E-07113 (17 Sept. 2006) --- This nadir photo of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, taken on Sept. 17, 2006 at 18:13:11 GMT, was part of a series in this area captured by the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis's STS-115 mission. Martha's Vineyard is partially visibly at left edge. Photo credit: NASA

S115-E-07115 (17 Sept. 2006) --- This nadir photo of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, taken on Sept. 17, 2006 at 18:14:09 GMT, was part of a series in this area captured by the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis's STS-115 mission. Martha's Vineyard is at upper left. Photo credit: NASA

iss070e025086 (Nov. 15, 2023) --- The photograph from the International Space Station looks back toward the northeast Atlantic coast of the United States revealing the city lights (from left) of Norfolk, Virginia, to Boston, Massachusetts. At far right, an aurora in northern Canada crowns the Earth's horizon.

iss055e023770 (April 14, 2018) --- The southeast geography of the state of Massachusetts including Cape Cod Bay, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the arm-shaped peninsula is clearly seen from the International Space Station as it orbited over the Atlantic coast of the United States.

iss072e186819 (Nov. 14, 2024) --- The city lights of the United States' eastern seaboard from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; to New York City; to Boston, Massachusetts; as well as Montreal, Quebec, in Canada (right center), are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 254 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are moderator Claire Saravia, NASA Communications; Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division director, NASA Headquarters; George Ricker, TESS principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Padi Boyd, TESS Guest Investigator Program lead, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Stephen Rinehart, TESS Project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and Diana Dragomir, NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are moderator Claire Saravia, NASA Communications; Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division director, NASA Headquarters; George Ricker, TESS principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Padi Boyd, TESS Guest Investigator Program lead, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Stephen Rinehart, TESS Project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; and Diana Dragomir, NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

ISS036-E-029545 (7 Aug. 2013) --- In the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Expedition 36 flight engineer, conducts a session with a pair of bowling-ball-sized free-flying satellites known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. Nyberg and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (not pictured) put the miniature satellites through their paces for a dry run of the SPHERES Zero Robotics tournament scheduled for Aug. 13. Teams of middle school students from Florida, Georgia, Idaho and Massachusetts will gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge to see which teams’ algorithms do the best job of commanding the free-flying robots through a series of maneuvers and objectives.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Dara Entekhabi, science team leader at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, discusses the science and engineering of NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, with the audience of a NASA Social held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This NASA Social brought together mission scientists and engineers with an audience of 70 students, educators, social media managers, bloggers, photographers and videographers who were selected from a pool of 325 applicants from 45 countries to participate in launch activities and communicate their experience with social media followers. The SMAP mission is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg on Jan. 29. To learn more about SMAP, visit http://www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California – At Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, agency and industry leaders spoke to members of the news media as the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, satellite and its Delta II rocket were being prepared for launch. From left are: Christine Bonniksen, SMAP program executive at NASA Headquarters, Tim Dunn, NASA launch manager at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Vern Thorp, program manager for NASA Missions for United Launch Alliance in Centennial, Colorado, Kent Kellogg, SMAP Project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team leader at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 1st Lt. John Martin, launch weather officer, 30th Operations Support Squadron at Vandenberg. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

STS106-710-060 (8-20 September 2000) --- One of the STS-106 crew members on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis used a handheld 70mm camera to photograph this image of Cape Cod and parts of Massachusetts. Partial sun glint highlights the coastline and brings out subtle details in the waters around Massachusetts. The maximum advance of an ice sheet 23,000 years ago is marked by the unique shape of Cape Cod and by the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Rocks and debris left at the edges of the ice fronts made parts of the landscape slightly higher and more resistant to erosion. Glacial retreat and sea level rise covered the lower ground and gave us the more modern coastline that we are familiar with. The city of New Bedford can be located near the coast and just below the circular lakes of Long Pond, Great Quiittacas Pond, and Assawompset Pond.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California – At Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, agency and industry leaders spoke to members of the news media as the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, satellite and its Delta II rocket were being prepared for launch. From left are: George Diller of NASA Public Affairs, Christine Bonniksen, SMAP program executive at NASA Headquarters, Tim Dunn, NASA launch manager at Kennedy Space Center, Florida Vern Thorp, program manager for NASA Missions for United Launch Alliance in Centennial, Colorado, Kent Kellogg, SMAP Project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team leader at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 1st Lt. John Martin, launch weather officer, 30th Operations Support Squadron at Vandenberg. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

ISS036-E-029522 (7 Aug. 2013) --- In the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Expedition 36 flight engineer, conducts a session with a pair of bowling-ball-sized free-flying satellites known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. Nyberg and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (not pictured) put the miniature satellites through their paces for a dry run of the SPHERES Zero Robotics tournament scheduled for Aug. 13. Teams of middle school students from Florida, Georgia, Idaho and Massachusetts will gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge to see which teams’ algorithms do the best job of commanding the free-flying robots through a series of maneuvers and objectives.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Dara Entekhabi, science team leader at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and other experts discuss the science and engineering of NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, with the audience of a NASA Social held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This NASA Social brought together mission scientists and engineers with an audience of 70 students, educators, social media managers, bloggers, photographers and videographers who were selected from a pool of 325 applicants from 45 countries to participate in launch activities and communicate their experience with social media followers. The SMAP mission is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg on Jan. 29. To learn more about SMAP, visit http://www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

ISS036-E-029539 (7 Aug. 2013) --- In the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Expedition 36 flight engineer, conducts a session with a pair of bowling-ball-sized free-flying satellites known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. Nyberg and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (not pictured) put the miniature satellites through their paces for a dry run of the SPHERES Zero Robotics tournament scheduled for Aug. 13. Teams of middle school students from Florida, Georgia, Idaho and Massachusetts will gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge to see which teams’ algorithms do the best job of commanding the free-flying robots through a series of maneuvers and objectives.

ISS036-E-029521 (7 Aug. 2013) --- In the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Expedition 36 flight engineer, conducts a session with a pair of bowling-ball-sized free-flying satellites known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. Nyberg and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (not pictured) put the miniature satellites through their paces for a dry run of the SPHERES Zero Robotics tournament scheduled for Aug. 13. Teams of middle school students from Florida, Georgia, Idaho and Massachusetts will gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge to see which teams’ algorithms do the best job of commanding the free-flying robots through a series of maneuvers and objectives.

STS071-708-040 (27 June-7 July 1995) --- This view shows Cape Cod in some detail in the center right of the view. Provincetown lies on the inside of the hook of Cape Cod. Other larger cities are unusually easy to see on this frame. The Boston metropolitan area is the large gray area at the top (north), with a smaller gray patch immediately south indicating Brockton, Massachusetts. Other smaller patches in southern Massachusetts (bottom left) indicate Fall River (far left) and New Bedford in the coast on the north side of Buzzard's Bay. The outskirts of Providence, Rhode Island appear half way up the left edge of the frame. The islands at the bottom of the frame are Martha's Vineyard (bottom left) and Nantucket Island (partial view). Shoals (near-surface sand bars) appear as light-blue swirls on the shallow sea bottom between Cape Cod and these islands. The distance from Boston to Nantucket is almost 100 miles.

This image was taken by the Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument at 1825Z on January 26, 2015. A low pressure system currently forming off the mid-Atlantic coast will rapidly strengthen into a major nor'easter today and affect parts of the Northeast U.S. through early Wednesday. This system will be responsible for heavy to intense snowfall and strong winds, with blizzard conditions expected from eastern New Jersey to eastern Massachusetts where Blizzard Warnings are in effect. Accumulations will likely exceed one foot from eastern New Jersey through eastern Maine by late Tuesday. The heaviest snow accumulations, perhaps exceeding two feet, are forecast across portions of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including the Boston area. Currently, New York City is forecast to receive 18-24 inches of snow, and Boston is forecast to receive 24-36 inches of snow. Wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph will be common from eastern New Jersey to eastern Massachusetts, leading to widespread blizzard conditions. Wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible in far eastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and Nantucket. Credit: NASA/NOAA/NPP/VIIRS Via: NASA/NOAA via <b><a href="www.nnvl.noaa.gov/" rel="nofollow"> NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA image acquired September 2, 2011 To download the full high res go to: <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=52059" rel="nofollow">earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=52059</a> Nearly a week after Hurricane Irene drenched New England with rainfall in late August 2011, the Connecticut River was spewing muddy sediment into Long Island Sound and wrecking the region's farmland just before harvest. The Thematic Mapper on the Landsat 5 satellite acquired this true-color satellite image on September 2, 2011. With its headwaters near the Canadian border, the Connecticut River drains nearly 11,000 square miles (28,500 square kilometers) and receives water from at least 33 tributaries in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The 410-mile river—New England's longest—enters Long Island Sound near Old Lyme, Connecticut, and is estimated to provide 70 percent of the fresh water entering the Sound. When Irene blew through the region on August 27-28, substantial portions of the Connecticut River watershed received more than 6 to 8 inches (15-20 centimeters) of rainfall, and several locations received more than 10 inches (25 centimeters). Whole towns were cut off from overland transportation—particularly upstream in Vermont, which suffered its worst flooding in 80 years. Thousands of people saw their homes flooded, if not washed off their foundations, at a time of year when rivers are usually at their lowest. Preliminary estimates of river flow at Thompsonville, Connecticut, (not shown in this image) reached 128,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) on August 30, nearly 64 times the usual flow (2,000 cfs) for early fall and the highest flow rate since May 1984. At the mouth of the river—where flow is tidal, and therefore not gauged—the peak water height reached 6.9 feet (2.1 meters) above sea level, almost a foot higher than at any time in the past 10 years. According to Suzanne O'Connell, an environmental scientist working along the Connecticut River at Wesleyan University, the torrent of water coursing through New England picked up silt and clay from the river valleys, giving it the tan color shown in the image above. At Essex, Connecticut, the turbidity (muddiness) of the water was 50 times higher than pre-Irene values. To the east, the Thames River appears to be carrying very little sediment at all on September 2. According to O'Connell, the Thames "drains glaciated terrain, so fine sediment was removed long ago." Most of the land surface in the Thames basin is "just bedrock, till, and glacial erratics." Unlike the Connecticut, areas within the Thames watershed only received 2 to 4 inches of rain in most locations. The flooding that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene inundated farmland in Massachusetts and Connecticut just before harvest time, the Associated Press noted. Crops were drowned under inches to feet of water. The substantial amounts of soil, sediment, and water deposited on land during the flood could also pose trouble for farmers in coming seasons. "It's notable that whole segments of river bank are just gone," said Andrew Fisk of the Connecticut River Watershed Council. "That's not just loss of sediment. That's land disappearing down river." <b>NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, using Landsat 5 data from the U.S. Geological Survey Global Visualization Viewer. Caption by Michael Carlowicz, with interpretation help from Suzanne O'Connell, Wesleyan University, and Andrew Fisk, Connecticut River Watershed Council.</b> Instrument: Landsat 5 - TM Credit: <b><a href="http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow"> NASA Earth Observatory</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

STS073-725-031 (24 October 1995) --- The contrasting colors of fall in New England are captured on this northward-looking photo of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket Island, and the famous hook-shaped Cape Cod. Light-colored patches of urbanization are scattered throughout the scene, the most evident being the greater Boston area along the shores of Massachusetts Bay. The cape is composed of rock debris that, according to NASA scientists studying Columbia's photo collection, was deposited along the end of glacier some 20,000 years ago.

Dr. Anita Goel, chairman and scientific director of Nanobiosym in Cambridge, Massachusetts, speaks to members of social media in the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium. The briefing focused on research in the field of nanobiophysics planned for the International Space Station following the arrival of a Dragon spacecraft. The Dragon is scheduled to be launched from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A on Feb. 18 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the company's 10th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station.

Kepler News Briefing, held in the Syvertson auditorium at the NASA Ames Research Center. The briefing presented discoveries from the continuing Kepler mission (K2). The team discovered some of the smallest planets found in the habitable zone of two newly discovered planetary systems. Bill Borucki (left), Kepler Scientist, Principal Investigator, NASA Ames Lisa Kaltengger (right), Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg Germany and Research Associate, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge Massachusetts.

Sara Seager, a MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, speaks during a panel discussion on the search for life beyond Earth in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters on Monday, July 14, 2014 in Washington, DC. The panel discussed how NASA's space-based observatories are making new discoveries and how the agency's new telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will continue this path of discovery after its schedule launch in 2018. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The seismometer reading from the impact made by the Apollo 15 Saturn S-IVB stage when it struck the lunar surface is studied by scientists in the Mission Control Center. Dr. Gary Latham (dark suit, wearing lapel button) of Columbia University is responsible for the design and experiment data analysis of the Passive Seismic Experiment of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP). The man on the left, writing, is Nafi Toksos of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Looking on at upper left is Dave Lamneline, also with Columbia.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –– One of the most numerous herons in the Deep South, this Louisiana Heron stalks the water at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida looking for food, usually frogs or fish. The range of this species is the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Massachusetts south, wintering from Virginia to South America. The center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island Wildlife Nature Refuge, which is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

On the panel from right: Leesa Hubbard, teacher in residence, Sally Ride Science, San Diego; David Lehman, GRAIL project manager, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge and Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington are seen at a press briefing to discuss the upcoming launch to the moon of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

J. Keith Motley, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Boston, and Chair, APLU (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence, speaks at the Symposium on Supporting Underrepresented Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

J. Keith Motley, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Boston, and Chair, APLU (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence, speaks at the Symposium on Supporting Underrepresented Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

The historic countdown clock by the NASA News Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, April 18, 2025, displays a graphic commemorating the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s midnight ride. The display is part of an initiative for all federal agencies to place two lights in a window as a symbol of the two lanterns placed in the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church used to signal to Revere and William Dawes to begin the famous midnight ride warning fellow minutemen in the Province of Massachusetts Bay that British soldiers were coming by sea.

Ben Weiss, Psyche deputy principal investigator and magnetometer lead, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, participates in a Psyche mission and science briefing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Psyche is the first mission to explore an asteroid with a surface that likely contains substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice. Liftoff of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is targeted for 10:16 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 12, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the 2005 FIRST Robotics Regional Competition held at the University of Central Florida March 10-12, Center Director Jim Kennedy (right) autographs the shirt of Dr. Woodie Flowers, who is a national advisor and co-founder of FIRST. Dr. Flowers is the Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

NASA and industry leaders speak to NASA Social participants about the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Speaking to the group from center are Natalia Guerrero, TESS researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Robert Lockwood, TESS Spacecraft Program Manager, Orbital ATK. At far left is Jason Townsend, NASA Communications. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and industry leaders speak to NASA Social participants about the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Speaking to the group, from left are Tom Barclay, TESS scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Jenn Burt, Torres Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and industry leaders speak to NASA Social participants about the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Speaking to the group from left are Tom Barclay, TESS scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Jenn Burt, Torres Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and industry leaders speak to NASA Social participants about the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Speaking to the group, from left are Natalia Guerrero, TESS researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Robert Lockwood, TESS Spacecraft Program Manager, Orbital ATK. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Diana Dragomir, NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, answered questions during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and science investigators from MIT participate in a science briefing for the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. George Ricker, TESS principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, answered questions during the briefing. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

NASA and industry leaders speak to NASA Social participants about the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Speaking to the group is Natalia Guerrero, TESS researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TESS is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets. TESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 16.

Leon Van Speybroeck of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge Massachusetts was awarded the 2002 Bruno Rossi Prize of the High-Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomy Society. The Rossi Prize is an arnual recognition of significant contributions in high-energy astrophysics in honor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's late Professor Bruno Rossi, an authority on cosmic ray physics and a pioneer in the field of x-ray astronomy. Van Speybroeck, who led the effort to design and make the x-ray mirrors for NASA's premier Chandra X-Ray Observatory, was recognized for a career of stellar achievements in designing precision x-ray optics. As Telescope Scientist for Chandra, he has worked for more than 20 years with a team that includes scientists and engineers from the Harvard-Smithsonian, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, TRW, Inc., Huhes-Danbury (now B.F. Goodrich Aerospace), Optical Coating Laboratories, Inc., and Eastman-Kodak on all aspects of the x-ray mirror assembly that is the heart of the observatory.

Posters for the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) "TouchTomorrow" education and outreach event are seen posted around the campus on Saturday, June 16, 2012 at WPI in Worcester, Mass. The TouchTomorrow event was held in tandem with the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge. The NASA-WPI challenge tasked robotic teams to build autonomous robots that can identify, collect and return samples. NASA needs autonomous robotic capability for future planetary exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Panoramic of some of the exhibits available on the campus of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) during their "TouchTomorrow" education and outreach event that was held in tandem with the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge on Saturday, June 16, 2012 in Worcester, Mass. The NASA-WPI challenge tasked robotic teams to build autonomous robots that can identify, collect and return samples. NASA needs autonomous robotic capability for future planetary exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Anthony Shrout)

NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale delivers a keynote address during the NASA Future Forum event at the Museum of Science in Boston, MA, Thursday, September 18, 2008. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A University of Waterloo Robotics Team member tests their robot on the practice field two days prior to the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge, Thursday, June 14, 2012 at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass. Teams will compete for a $1.5 million NASA prize to build an autonomous robot that can identify, collect and return samples. NASA needs autonomous robotic capability for future planetary exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Lynn Margulis, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst speaks during the "Seeking Signs of Life" Symposium, celebrating 50 Years of Exobiology and Astrobiology at NASA, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010, at the Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center in Arlington, Va. NASA has been researching life in the universe since 1959, asking three fundamental questions: "How does life begin and evolve?"‚ "Is there life beyond Earth and, if so, how can we detect it?" and "What is the future of life on Earth and in the universe?" Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Prior to the arrival of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, to the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Professor Sam Ting, AMS Principal Investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology speaks with the media. AMS is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Training Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Professor Sam Ting talks to employees about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS). Ting is the particle physics detector's principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. AMS is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS-2 will fly to the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 27, 2011. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Lynn Margulis, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst speaks during the "Seeking Signs of Life" Symposium, celebrating 50 Years of Exobiology and Astrobiology at NASA, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010, at the Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center in Arlington, Va. NASA has been researching life in the universe since 1959, asking three fundamental questions: "How does life begin and evolve?"‚ "Is there life beyond Earth and, if so, how can we detect it?" and "What is the future of life on Earth and in the universe?" Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Dr. Goddard's 1926 rocket configuration. Dr. Goddard's liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket was fired on March 16, 1926, at Auburn, Massachusetts. It flew for only 2.5 seconds, climbed 41 feet, and landed 184 feet away in a cabbage patch. From 1930 to 1941, Dr. Goddard made substantial progress in the development of progressively larger rockets, which attained altitudes of 2400 meters, and refined his equipment for guidance and control, his techniques of welding, and his insulation, pumps, and other associated equipment. In many respects, Dr. Goddard laid the essential foundations of practical rocket technology

S83-44997 (28 Nov 1983) --- The Columbia lifts off once again from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a busy nine days in space for six crewmembers. Official launch time was 11:00:00:84 a.m. (EST). Onboard the spacecraft are Astronauts John W. Young, Brewster Shaw, Jr., Dr. Owen K. Garriott, Dr. Robert A. R. Parker; the European Space Agency?s Dr. Ulf Merbold; and Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg, biomedical engineer with Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Professor Sam Ting, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, checks out the particle physics detector. AMS is designed to operate as an external experiment on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS-2 will fly to the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch April 19 at 7:48 p.m. EDT. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts134/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

Paula do Vale Pereira, BeaverCube, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, participates in a climate conversation at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 13, 2022, leading up to SpaceX’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station. The Dragon capsule atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A on July 14 at 8:44 p.m. EDT. Dragon will deliver more than 5,800 pounds of cargo, including a variety of NASA investigations, to the space station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, media were briefed about NASA's future science missions. Seen here are NASA Public Affairs Officer George Diller (left); Waleed Abdalati, NASA chief scientist; Amanda Mitskevich, NASA Launch Services Program manager; Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator with the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio; Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; John Grotzinger, Mars Science Lab project scientist with the California Institute of Technology and Daniel Stern, NuStar project scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Calif. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

STS074-718-056 (12-20 Nov 1995) --- As photographed from the overhead Windows on the aft flight deck of the docked Space Shuttle Atlantis, a number of components of the cluster comprising the Russia?s Mir Space Station are backdropped over the northeastern United States. The crew enjoyed a southward looking view of the United States east coast from New Hampshire to South Carolina. Cape Cod and Boston, Massachusetts are seen on the north or the side away from Earth?s limb. New York City and Long Island are in the center of the photo. The mouths of both the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays are visible southward.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Prior to the arrival of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, to the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Professor Sam Ting, AMS Principal Investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology speaks to the media. AMS,a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Training Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Professor Sam Ting talks to employees about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS). Ting is the particle physics detector's principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. AMS is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS-2 will fly to the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 27, 2011. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The International Space Station Science and Technology Briefing was held in the Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Speaking to media about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is Professor Sam Ting, AMS-2 principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for the Dextre robotic helper to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for April 29 at 3:47 p.m. EDT. This will be the final spaceflight for Endeavour. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts134_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Kim Shiflett

Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team lead, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, speaks during a briefing about the upcoming launch of the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, Thursday, Jan. 08, 2015, at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. The mission is scheduled for a Jan. 29 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and will provide the most accurate, highest-resolution global measurements of soil moisture ever obtained from space. The data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy and carbon cycles. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A black skimmer proves its name as it flies low over the water in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with Kennedy Space Center. They skim the surface of the water for fish, with the tip of their lower mandible cutting through the water. They also wade in shallow water, jabbing with their blade-like bills at the fish scattering before them. Skimmers breed chiefly on sandbars and beaches, feeding in shallow bays, inlets and estuaries, such as the Wildlife Refuge. They range from Massachusetts and Long Island to Florida and Texas, and from Mexico to southern South America

S73-32499 (July 1973) --- Dr. Ray Gause of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) places dinner, in the form of a housefly, in the web of Arabella - the prime spider for the ED-52 Web Formation Experiment. Arabella can be delineated near the end of the black pen in Dr. Gause's hand. The experiment is one of 25 student experiments accepted for the Skylab program and will be performed during the Skylab 3 mission. Judy Miles, a 17-year-old high school student from Lexington, Massachusetts, is the student experimenter and Dr. Gause is the NASA student advisor. Photo credit: NASA

Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, answers a reporter's question at a press briefing about the upcoming launch to the moon of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011 in Washington. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. The mission will place two spacecraft into the same orbit around the moon which will gather information about the its gravitational field enabling scientists to create a high-resolution map. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)