The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) was designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and served as the primary scientific instrument unit aboard Skylab (1973-1979). The ATM consisted of eight scientific instruments as well as a number of smaller experiments. This image is of the ATM flight unit sun end canister in MSFC's building 4755.

The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) was designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and served as the primary scientific instrument unit aboard Skylab (1973-1979). The ATM contained eight complex astronomical instruments designed to observe the Sun over a wide spectrum from visible light to x-rays. This image depicts the sun end and spar of the ATM flight unit showing individual telescopes. All solar telescopes, the fine Sun sensors, and some auxiliary systems are mounted on the spar, a cruciform lightweight perforated metal mounting panel that divides the canister lengthwise into four equal compartments. The spar assembly was nested inside a cylindrical canister that fit into a complex frame named the rack, and was protected by the solar shield.

The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, was one of four major components comprising the Skylab. The ATM housed the first marned scientific telescopes in space. In this photograph, the ATM sun end canister, housing the solar instruments, is being moved to a clean room prior to being mated with the remaining components of the ATM unit.

The dark region seen on the face of the sun at the end of March 2013 is a coronal hole just above and to the right of the middle of the picture, which is a source of fast solar wind leaving the sun in this image from NASA Solar Dynamic Observatory.

The Sun produced three M-class (medium-sized) flares in less than 13 hours and the third one had an interesting flourish at the end (July 22-23, 2016). These were the largest flares the Sun had produced this year. The first two flares occurred in quick succession. The third one (see the still taken at 5:38 UT on the 23rd), besides the familiar bright flash of a flare, also spewed out into space a curving string of plasma. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17912

NGC 7293, better known as the Helix nebula, displays its ultraviolet glow courtesy of NASA GALEX. The Helix is the nearest example of a planetary nebula, which is the eventual fate of a star, like our own Sun, as it approaches the end of its life.

This image, taken by NASA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the colorful last hurrah of a star like our Sun. The star is ending its life by casting off its outer layers of gas, which formed a cocoon around the star remaining core.

This image from NASA Herschel, was taken looking towards a region of our Milky Way galaxy in the Eagle constellation, closer to the galactic center than our sun. Here, we see the outstanding end products of the stellar assembly line.

The sun has had no sunspots for almost two weeks (as of Feb. 1, 2018) and just has a single, tiny one that appeared on Jan. 31, 2018. The video shows a rotating sun in filtered light for the past week, but it is even hard to tell the sun is rotating since there are just about no features. Even the small spot that appears on the 31st is hard to see. This spotless period is a prelude to the approaching period of solar minimum next year, when the sun's activity will be at the low end of its 11-year cycle. Movies are available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22242

STS077-702-039 (19-29 May 1996) --- The Space Shuttle Endeavour?s Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm is extended against a panoramic Earth/space background. In a traditional gesture, the view was chosen by the crew members to represent their unique position to view such scenes. A lengthy portion of the South African coast in Sun glint and a Sun burst/flare effect flank the end effector of the RMS.

A prominence at the sun's edge shifted and slithered back and forth over a one-day period (Nov. 29-30, 2017). Prominences are strands of charged particles suspended above the sun's surface that are pulled and tugged by magnetic forces. This kind of close-up also shows the kind of dynamic activity taking place all over the sun's surface. The bright area further down from the prominence is an active region, an area of intense tangles of magnetic forces. Towards the end of the clip, it blasts out a small stream of plasma (captured in the still). The images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Movies are available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22123

Several times a day for a few days the Earth completely blocked the Sun for about an hour due to NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory's orbital path (Feb. 15, 2017). The edge of the Earth is not crisp, but kind of fuzzy due to Earth's atmosphere. This frame from a video shows the ending of one such eclipse over -- just seven minutes. The sun is shown in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. These eclipses re-occur about every six months. The Moon blocks SDO's view of the sun on occasion as well. Movies are available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21461

The sun begins to rise at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida following a successful launch of SpaceX’s uncrewed Demo-1 flight test from Launch Complex 39A on March 2, 2019. The company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket and traveled to the International Space Station, where it validated end-to-end systems and capabilities in preparation for certification to fly crew.

The diamond-ring effect occurred at the beginning and end of totality during a total solar eclipse. As the last bits of sunlight pass through the valleys on the moon's limb, and the faint corona around the sun is just becoming visible, it looks like a ring with glittering diamonds on it. Credit: (NASA/Carla Thomas)

art002e010782 (April 6, 2026) - In this view captured by the Artemis II crew on the Orion spacecraft, a wedge of the Moon in nighttime is visible in the foreground, as the Sun is setting on the opposite side. This image captures the beginning of a total solar eclipse that astronauts were able to observe at the end of their lunar observation period during Orion’s closest approach to the Moon on April 6, 2026. Unlike minutes-long eclipses as viewed from Earth, the Artemis II crew witnessed the Sun hide behind the Moon for nearly an hour. Because the astronauts were so near the Moon, it appeared much larger than the Sun; because of this, it took longer for the Sun to make its transit across the Moon and peek out the other side. From Earth, in contrast, the Moon and Sun appear about the same size, so even small changes in their alignment quickly bring the Sun back into view, making totality much shorter. The bright rays of light, or streamers, that are running outward towards the bottom of the Moon disk are part of the Sun's corona. The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere and is only visible during a total solar eclipse. It is normally hidden by the bright light of the Sun's surface. In addition, the jagged edge of the Moon visible in this image reveals the topography of backlit mountains on the horizon.

View taken through overhead window W7 aboard Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, shows the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) grappled by the remote manipulator system (RMS) and held in a 90 degree pitch position against the blackness of space. The solar array (SA) panel (center) and the high gain antennae (HGA) (on either side) are visible along the Support System Module (SSM) forward shell prior to deployment during STS-31.

In this image, NASA's Cassini sees Saturn and its rings through a haze of Sun glare on the camera lens. If you could travel to Saturn in person and look out the window of your spacecraft when the Sun was at a certain angle, you might see a view very similar to this one. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to show the scene in natural color. The images were taken with Cassini's wide-angle camera on June 23, 2013, at a distance of approximately 491,200 miles (790,500 kilometers) from Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17185

art002e009575 (April 6, 2026) - The Sun is rising at the left edge of the Moon, ending a nearly one-hour total solar eclipse on April 6, 2026. While the Sun hid behind the Moon, the crew aboard the Orion spacecraft, pictured in the forefront, saw a Moon shrouded in night. This offered a perfect opportunity to look for rarely seen phenomena. And the moment delivered. Calling down to Earth at 9 p.m. ET the crew reported seeing six impact flashes, which are light flashes that are created when meteoroids, traveling many thousands of miles per hour, smash into the Moon’s surface. Credit: NASA

This view shows Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by the OSIRIS wide-angle camera on ESA's Rosetta spacecraft on September 29, 2016, when Rosetta was at an altitude of 14 miles (23 kilometers). The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission will come to a dramatic end on Friday, Sept. 30, with a controlled touchdown of the spacecraft on a region of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko known for active pits that spew comet dust into space. Confirmation of the end of mission is expected at about 4:20 a.m. PDT (7:20 a.m. EDT). ESA is ending the mission due to the spacecraft's ever-increasing distance from the sun, which has resulted in significantly reduced solar power with which to operate the vehicle and its instruments. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21068

This graphic shows the relative size of the Sun, upper left, compared to the two stars in the binary system known as Wolf-Rayet 140, or WR 140. The O-type star is roughly 30 times the mass of the Sun, while its companion is about 10 times the mass of the Sun. O-type stars are some of the biggest and brightest stars in the universe. They use up their fuel quickly and live relatively short lives – no more than about 10 million years, as opposed to stars like our Sun, which live for about 10 billion years. Wolf-Rayet stars were once O-type stars that are now nearing the end of their lives. They release huge amounts of mass into space via stellar winds, exposing their hot, inner layers. The Wolf-Rayet star in WR 140 may have shed more than half its original mass. It has an estimated temperature of 60,000 Kelvin (about 110,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 60,000 degrees Celsius) – more than 10 times the temperature of our Sun. The temperature of the O-type star is about 35,000 Kelvin (about 63,000 F, or about 35,000 C). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25431

Every winter a layer of carbon dioxide ice-or, dry ice-condenses in the Southern polar region, forming a seasonal polar cap less than 1 meter deep. Early in the spring the ice layer begins to sublimate (going directly from a solid to gas) from the top and bottom of the ice layer. Under the ice gas pressure builds up until a weak spot in the ice layer ruptures. The gas rushes out and as it escapes it erodes a bit of the surface. Fine particles are carried by the gas to the top of the ice and then fall out in fan-shaped deposits. The direction of the fan shows the direction either of the wind or down the slope. If the wind is not blowing a dark blotch settles around the spot the gas escaped. This region is known informally as Inca City, and it has a series of distinctive ridges. On the floor between the ridges are radially organized channels, known colloquially as spiders, more formally called "araneiforms." The channels have been carved in the surface over many years by the escaping pressurized gas. Every spring they widen just a bit. This was the first image to be acquired by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter after the sun rose on Inca City, marking the end to polar night. A few fans are visible emerging from the araneiforms. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18892

This dramatic view of the Pluto system is as NASA's New Horizons spacecraft saw it in July 2015. The animation, made with real images taken by New Horizons, begins with Pluto flying in for its close-up on July 14; we then pass behind Pluto and see the atmosphere glow in sunlight before the sun passes behind Pluto's largest moon, Charon. The movie ends with New Horizons' departure, looking back on each body as thin crescents. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19873

This montage is an artist's conception of progressive views of the Comet Kohoutek based on sketches and a description by Skylab-4 astronaut Edward Gibson. An early discovery of a large comet in an orbit that would reach close to the Sun at the end of 1973 prompted NASA to initiate Operation Kohoutek, a program to coordinate widespread observations of the comet from ground observatories, aircraft, balloons, rockets, unmarned satellites, and Skylab.

This ultraviolet image from NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer is of the planetary nebula NGC 7293 also known as the Helix Nebula. It is the nearest example of what happens to a star, like our own Sun, as it approaches the end of its life when it runs out of fuel, expels gas outward and evolves into a much hotter, smaller and denser white dwarf star. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07902

In the glow of a late afternoon sun, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) returns the orbiter Discovery to KSC after the orbiter’s California landing at Edwards Air Force Base at the end of mission STS-92. Discovery wears a tail cone protecting its aft nozzles for the ferry flight. Discovery will be demated from the SCA via the mate/demate device at the SLF and transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1. There it will undergo preparations for its next launch, STS-102, scheduled for February 2001

Spaceflight Participant Guy Laliberté, left, Expedition 21 Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev, center, and Expedition 21 Flight Engineer Jeffrey N. Williams reveal t-shirts showing their faces superimposed on characters from the Russian movie "White Sun of the Desert" at the end of the press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It is tradition for all crews flying on the Soyuz to watch this movie several days before they launch. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the glow of a setting sun, Space Shuttle Endeavour is revealed after the rollback of the Rotating Service Structure (left) on Launch Pad 39A. At the top of the external tank can be seen the “beanie cap,” a venting apparatus at the end of the Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm. Endeavour is expected to lift off on mission STS-100 on April 19, carrying the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello and the Canadian robotic arm, SSRMS, with a crew of seven to the International Space Station

This pencil sketch of the Comet Kohoutek made by Skylab-4 astronaut Edward Gibson illustrates the crew's collective impressions of the comet's appearance on December 29, 1973. An early discovery of a large comet in an orbit that would reach close to the Sun at the end of 1973 prompted NASA to initiate Operation Kohoutek, a program to coordinate widespread observations of the comet from ground observatories, aircraft, balloons, rockets, unmarned satellites, and Skylab.

STS084-712-003 (15-24 May 1997) --- Early morning sun highlights the volcanic features on Onekotan Island which is one of several volcanic islands in the Russian owned Kurile Island chain. Onekotan lies just south of Kamchatka. Two volcanoes are active on the island -- the small island surrounded by a moat-like lake in the south (Tao-Rusyr caldera) last erupted in 1952, and the cone-shaped peak at the north end of the island, Nemo peak, erupted in 1938.

A four-million-mile journey draws to a flawless ending as the orbiter Discovery (STS-56) lands at Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility. Aboard for the second shuttle mission of 1993 were a crew of five and the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science 2 (ATLAS 2), the second in a series of missions to study the sun's energy output and Earth's middle atmosphere chemical make-up, and how these factors affect levels of ozone.

A close-up view of one day in the life of a rather small active region shows the agitation and dynamism of its magnetic field (Dec. 21, 2016). This wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light reveals particles as they spin along the cascading arches of magnetic field lines above the active region. Some darker plasma rises up and spins around at the edge of the sun near the end of the video clip also being pulled by unseen magnetic forces. Movies are available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15032

Artist's concept of a dust storm on Titan. Researchers believe that huge amounts of dust can be raised on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, by strong wind gusts that arise in powerful methane storms. Such methane storms, previously observed in images from the international Cassini spacecraft, can form above dune fields that cover the equatorial regions of this moon especially around the equinox, the time of the year when the Sun crosses the equator. The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22482

iss060e007151 (July 14, 2019) --- The tip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm (left), or the Leading End Effector, seemingly stares at the camera as the Sun's rays light up Earth's blue atmosphere. At right, a variety of solar arrays criss-cross the view, including the cymbal-shaped Ultra-Flex solar arrays attached to the Cygnus space freighter, a portion of one of the International Space Station's main solar arrays, and (at bottom right) part of a docked Russian spacecraft's solar array.

art002e009299 (April 6, 2026) – Captured from the Orion spacecraft near the end of the Artemis II lunar flyby on April 6, this image shows the Sun beginning to peek out from behind the Moon as the eclipse transitions out of totality. Only a portion of the Moon is visible in frame, its curved edge revealing a bright sliver of sunlight returning after nearly an hour of darkness. In final moments of the eclipse observed by the crew, the reemerging light creates a sharp contrast against the Moon’s silhouette and reveals lunar topography not usually visible along the lunar limb. This fleeting phase captures the dynamic alignment of the Sun, Moon, and spacecraft as Orion continues its journey back from the far side of the Moon.

S82-31408 (May 1983) --- The Spacelab 2 emblem is a symbolic representation of the scientific objectives of the mission. The emblem is in the shape of a triangular shield with convexly curved edges. Across the top of a black out border are the words ?SPACELAB 2?. Within the black border is a sky blue border carryhing the words: ?ASTRONOMY?, ON TOP? ?PHYSICS?, on the left; and ?BIOLOGY?, on the right. Within the blue border is a schematic view of the sun, the earth, and the orbiter with Spacelab 2. The sun appears in the upper right background as a white disc surrounded by six concentric rings ranging grom bright yellow near the disc through yellow-red to a dark red out ring. A sector of the earth with blue ocean and a black portion of North America is in the upper left corner. The black and white Orbiter is seen from directly overhead in the foreground, the right side illuminated by the sun, the left side in shadow. Although the payload bay doors are not open, the Spacelab 2 payload is seen as if the doors were open. In black on white are seen the three pallets, and the separately mounted cosmic ray experiment at the aft end of the bay.

In this image, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) observes an impact crater with associated bright deposits that at first glance give the appearance of seasonal frost or ice accumulations. MRO has an onboard spectrometer called CRISM that can distinguish between ices and other minerals. Unfortunately, there is currently no coverage of this particular spot. However, it can be deduced through several lines of evidence that this is, in fact, not ice. Just like Earth, Mars experiences seasons that change as the planet orbits the Sun. Seasonal changes are most apparent at the higher latitudes. As these regions in each hemisphere enter their respective summer seasons, the Sun rises higher in the Martian sky causing frost and ice to sublimate, and illuminate more features across the landscape. As the high latitudes of each hemisphere move toward their respective winters, the days (called "sols") grow shorter and the sun hangs low on the horizon, giving rise to prolonged periods of cold, darkness, and frost accumulation. First, it should be noted that at the time this image was taken, the Southern hemisphere is at the end of the summer season, so any frost or ice deposits have long since sublimated away. Second, numerous HiRISE images of seasonal targets show that ice accumulates on pole-facing slopes. The deposits in question are situated on a slope that faces the equator, and would not accumulate deposits of frost. Thus, it can be concluded that these exposures are light-toned mineral deposits. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21766

jsc2011e118362 - Panorama view of Apollo 16 lunar surface photos of the Station 10 and Sample 381 Rock taken during the second moonwalk of the mission. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 16 images starting with frame AS16-114-18450 thru end frame AS16-114-18467. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, both solar arrays on the Genesis spacecraft are deployed. Genesis is designed to collect samples of solar wind particles and return them to Earth so that scientists can study the exact composition of the Sun and probe the solar system’s origin. The white object on the end in front of the arrays is the Sample Return Canister backshell, inside of which are the collector arrays. Genesis is scheduled to be launched on a Delta II Lite launch vehicle from Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, July 30, at 12:36 p.m. EDT

jsc2012e052597 - Panorama view from the Apollo 16 Lunar Module (LM) window taken on-orbit during Revolution 16 of the mission. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 16 images starting with frame AS16-113-18297 thru end frame AS16-113-18307. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

This photo, captured by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys, is Hubble's latest view of an expanding halo of light around the distant star V838 Monocerotis, or V Mon, caused by an unusual stellar outburst that occurred back in January 2002. A burst of light from the bizarre star is spreading into space and reflecting off of surrounding circumstellar dust. As different parts are sequentially illuminated, the appearance of the dust changes. This effect is referred to as a "light echo". Located about 20,000 light-years away in the winter constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn), the star brightened to more than 600,000 times our Sun's luminosity. The light echo gives the illusion of contracting, until it finally disappears by the end of the decade.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician installs the aft-end blankets on the avionics assembly of a four-stage Taurus XL rocket. The rocket and NASA's Glory satellite are being prepared for a launch to low Earth orbit from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

Catching the glow of the late afternoon sun, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) rolls down the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility as it returns the orbiter Discovery to KSC. The ferry flight started in California after the orbiter’s landing more than a week ago at Edwards Air Force Base at the end of mission STS-92. Discovery wears a tail cone protecting its aft nozzles for the ferry flight. Discovery will be demated from the SCA via the mate/demate device at the SLF and transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1. There it will undergo preparations for its next launch, STS-102, scheduled for February 2001

jsc2011e118361 - Panorama view of Apollo 15 lunar module pilot James B. Irwin, using a scoop in making a trench in the lunar soil during the second moonwalk of the mission. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 15 images starting with frame AS15-92-12420 thru end frame AS15-92-12438. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility check closely the solar arrays on the Genesis spacecraft. Genesis is designed to collect samples of solar wind particles and return them to Earth so that scientists can study the exact composition of the Sun and probe the solar system’s origin. The white object on the end in front of the arrays is the Sample Return Canister backshell, inside of which are the collector arrays. Genesis is scheduled to be launched on a Delta II Lite launch vehicle from Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, July 30, at 12:36 p.m. EDT

jsc2011e118360 - Panorama view of Station 8 and (Mons) Mt. Hadley taken during the third moonwalk of the Apollo 15 mission. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 15 images starting with frame AS15-82-11054 thru end frame AS15-82-11058. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- After the rollback of the Rotating Service Structure, Space Shuttle Endeavour catches the glow of a setting sun and the lights surrounding it on Launch Pad 39A. At the top of the external tank can be seen the “beanie cap,” a venting apparatus at the end of the Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm. Below it stretches the Orbiter Access Arm with the White Room extended to the orbiter. The White Room provides a controlled environment for entry into the orbiter. Endeavour is expected to lift off on mission STS-100 on April 19, carrying the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello and the Canadian robotic arm, SSRMS, with a crew of seven to the International Space Station

Catching the glow of the late afternoon sun, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) rolls down the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility as it returns the orbiter Discovery to KSC. The ferry flight started in California after the orbiter’s landing more than a week ago at Edwards Air Force Base at the end of mission STS-92. Discovery wears a tail cone protecting its aft nozzles for the ferry flight. Discovery will be demated from the SCA via the mate/demate device at the SLF and transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1. There it will undergo preparations for its next launch, STS-102, scheduled for February 2001

jsc2008e040725 - Panorama view of Apollo 11 Lunar surface photos taken by Astronaut Neil Armstrong at Tranquility Base of a crater Armstrong noted during the Lunar Module descent. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 11 images starting with frame AS11-40-5954 through end frame AS11-40-5961. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

STS109-E-5249 (4 March 2002) --- In Columbia's cargo bay, astronaut John M. Grunsfeld (foreground), payload commander, signals to a crewmate inside the crew cabin. He had just raised his helmet visor's sun shield. Astronauts Grunsfeld and Richard M. Linnehan (out of frame), mission specialist, participating in the first of their assigned STS-109 space walks to perform work on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), went on to replace the giant telescope’s starboard solar array. Their seven-hour space walk ended at 7:38 a.m. (CST) or 13:38 GMT March 4, 2002.

In the soft glow of a soon-to-set sun, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), with its unique orbiter passenger attached to its back, gently touches down on the runway at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility. The SCA is returning Discovery to KSC after the orbiter’s California landing at Edwards Air Force Base at the end of mission STS-92. Discovery will be demated from the SCA via the mate/demate device at the SLF and transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1. There it will undergo preparations for its next launch, STS-102, scheduled for February 2001

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician is pointing to a vent hole in the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer , or P-POD, assembly after a sheet of silver reflective tape to protect it from the sun had been applied and the bracket interface installed. The bracket will serve as a connection interface between the P-POD and the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage. The P-POD will hold three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

This video is a series of images showing the deployment of the solar arrays that power the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite (SWOT). The mission captured the roughly 10-minute process with two of the four commercial cameras aboard the satellite (the same type used to capture NASA's Perseverance rover landing on Mars). The satellite launched Dec. 16, 2022, at 3:46 a.m. PST from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and the arrays started their deployment at 5:01 a.m. PST. SWOT's two solar arrays measure 48.8 feet (14.9 meters) from end to end, with a total surface area of 335 square feet (31 square meters). Extending from opposite sides of the spacecraft bus, the arrays remain pointed at the Sun via small motors. They provide 8 kilowatts of power to the satellite, which has a 1.5-kilowatt total power demand. SWOT will survey the height of water in Earth's lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean. The satellite will cover the planet's surface at least once every 21 days and has a prime mission of three years. It was jointly developed by NASA and France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25563

Saturn's graceful lanes of orbiting ice -- its iconic rings -- wind their way around the planet to pass beyond the horizon in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. And diminutive Pandora, scarcely larger than a pixel here, can be seen orbiting just beyond the F ring in this image. Also in this image is the gap between Saturn's cloud tops and its innermost D ring through which Cassini would pass 22 times before ending its mission in spectacular fashion in Sept. 15, 2017. Scientists scoured images of this region, particularly those taken at the high phase (spacecraft-ring-Sun) angles, looking for material that might pose a hazard to the spacecraft. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 19 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken in green light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Aug. 12, 2017. Pandora was brightened by a factor of 2 to increase its visibility. The view was obtained at a distance to Saturn of approximately 581,000 miles (935,000 kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 35 miles (56 kilometers) per pixel. The distance to Pandora was 691,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) for a scale of 41 miles (66 kilometers) per pixel. The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21352

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The late afternoon sun highlights Space Shuttle Atlantis after rollback of the rotating service structure. The RSS provides protected access to the orbiter for changeout and servicing of payloads at the pad and then is rolled away before liftoff. Seen above the golden external tank is the vent hood (known as the "beanie cap") at the end of the gaseous oxygen vent arm. Vapors are created as the liquid oxygen in the external tank boil off. The hood vents the gaseous oxygen vapors away from the space shuttle vehicle. Below it, extending from the fixed service structure, is the orbiter access arm with the White Room at the end. The White Room provides entry into the orbiter. Atlantis is scheduled to launch Sept. 6 at 12:29 p.m. EDT on mission STS-115. During the mission, Atlantis' astronauts will deliver and install the 17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss segment on the station. The girder-like truss includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries and associated electronics and will provide one-fourth of the total power-generation capability for the completed station. This mission is the 116th space shuttle flight, the 27th flight for orbiter Atlantis, and the 19th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. STS-115 is scheduled to last 11 days with a planned KSC landing at about 8:03 a.m. EDT on Sept. 17. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley

Dec. 21, 2012 was not the end of the world, contrary to some of the common beliefs out there. NASA's SDO satellite captured this image of the SUN on 12-22-12 at 00:14 UTC as the time rolled over into the new day. To learn more about why the world did not end yesterday, watch this Science @ NASA video: <a href="http://youtu.be/2wimiRUHMI4" rel="nofollow">youtu.be/2wimiRUHMI4</a> or visit <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/2012" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/2012</a> Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project <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/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://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

jsc2011e118363 - Panorama view of Apollo 16 commander Astronaut John W. Young, working at the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) just prior to deployment of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) during the first moonwalk of the mission on April 21, 1972. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 16 images starting with frame AS16-116-18573 thru end frame AS16-116-18581. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

One of NASA’s two modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is bathed in the morning Sun at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California. The modified jumbo jetliners are used to ferry the Space Shuttle orbiters between Dryden and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Boeing’s Reusable Space Systems modification facility at Palmdale, California. Features which distinguish the two SCAs from standard 747 jetliners are three struts, with associated interior structural strengthening, which protrude from the top of the fuselage (two aft, one forward) on which the orbiter is attached, and two additional vertical stabilizers, one on each end of the standard horizontal stabilizer, to enhance directional stability. All interior furnishings and equipment aft of the forward No. 1 doors have also been removed to reduce weight. The two SCAs are under the operational control of NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.

jsc2011e118358 - Panorama view of Apollo 12 lunar surface photos with lunar module pilot Alan L. Bean and the TV taken from just inside the rim of Surveyor Crater on the first moonwalk of the mission. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 12 images starting with frame AS12-46-6777 thru end frame AS12-46-6780. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

This figure shows how the Alice instrument count rate changed over time during the sunset and sunrise observations. The count rate is largest when the line of sight to the sun is outside of the atmosphere at the start and end times. Molecular nitrogen (N2) starts absorbing sunlight in the upper reaches of Pluto's atmosphere, decreasing as the spacecraft approaches the planet's shadow. As the occultation progresses, atmospheric methane and hydrocarbons can also absorb the sunlight and further decrease the count rate. When the spacecraft is totally in Pluto's shadow the count rate goes to zero. As the spacecraft emerges from Pluto's shadow into sunrise, the process is reversed. By plotting the observed count rate in the reverse time direction, it is seen that the atmospheres on opposite sides of Pluto are nearly identical. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19716

jsc2004e20304 - Panorama view of Apollo 17 lunar surface photos for Station 5 at the Taurus-Littrow landing site taken during the second moonwalk of the mission by Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan and lunar module pilot Harrison (Jack) Schmitt. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 17 images starting with frame AS17-145-22159 through end frame AS17-145-22181. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The sun sets behind the mobile launcher, or ML, as it makes its way past the turn basin at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The ML is nearing the end of its 4.2-mile trek from Launch Pad 39B to the park site near the Vehicle Assembly Building. Data on the ML collected from structural and functional engineering tests during its two-week stay on the pad will be used in the next phases of construction. The 355-foot-tall ML structure, which took about two years to construct, will be modified by NASA’s 21st Century Ground Systems Program to support NASA’s Space Launch System, the heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronauts into deep space on future exploration missions. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

jsc2011e118359 - Panorama view of Apollo 15 lunar surface photos south of Station 2 taken by lunar module pilot James B. Irwin. Astronaut David R. Scott, mission commander, performs a task at the Lunar Roving Vehicle parked on the edge of Hadley Rille (Rima Hadley) during the first moonwalk of the mission. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 15 images starting with frame AS15-85-11448 thru end frame AS15-85-11453. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

One small section of this image shows boulders that have rolled down the slope of a crater wall. The boulders vary in size, with the largest one approximately 6 meters across. Unlike the boulder in a previous image, this one is not standing on end. We can tell by using the sun angle and shadow length to figure out the height and then comparing that to its other measurements. We can determine the origin of the boulders by tracing their up-slope tracks. They appear to come from one small part of the crater wall that is less stable than surrounding materials. It is likely that there have been numerous rockfall events from this area, as suggested by the many boulders down-slope of this area, some with clear tracks and others with indistinct or no tracks visible. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20744

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly has been installed to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage using the Anodized gold aluminum bracket interface. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician lifts the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly by the Anodized gold aluminum bracket interface. The bracket is the connection point between the P-POD and the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly has been installed to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage using the Anodized gold aluminum bracket interface. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the bright morning sun, Space Shuttle Discovery towers above the landscape, and cars below, as it sits on Launch Pad 39A. At left can be seen the environmental chamber known as the “white room” that provides access inside the orbiter when it is in place. The white room is at the end of the Orbiter Access Arm, moved away from the Space Shuttle in this photograph. Discovery is scheduled to launch Oct. 5 at 9:30 p.m. EDT on mission STS-92. Making the 100th Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Discovery will carry two pieces of hardware for the International Space Station, the Z1 truss, which is the cornerstone truss of the Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter. Discovery also will be making its 28th flight into space, more than any of the other orbiters to date

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Sciences Corp. technicians install the second petal to the aft end of the Taurus XL rocket's first stage motor. Three pedals will essentially make up the aft skirt of the first stage, covering and protecting a myriad of cabling. The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, targeted to lift off Feb. 23, 2011, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E, will take NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth. Glory is scheduled to collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

This awesome image depicts the full moon, sunset launch of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis STS-98 mission on February 7, 2001 at 6:13 p.m. eastern time. The large white plume is the pillar of smoke and stream left behind by the solid rocket boosters. The very bright dot that exists above the plume is the flame still visible at the base of the rocket boosters. The top of the plume is being directly illuminated by sunlight whereas the bottom portion lies within the Earth's shadow. The bright orb in the lower right-hand corner of the image is the full sunlit face of the moon which has already risen above the eastern horizon. The dark cone-shaped feature extending downward towards the moon is the smoke plume shadow, known as the Bugeron Effect (common during sunrise and sunset launches). The Earth, Moon, and Sun were naturally in alignment causing the shadow to appear to end at the moon. (Photo courtesy Patrick McCracken, NASA Headquarters)

At the end of 2018, the cosmic ray subsystem (CRS) aboard NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft provided evidence that Voyager 2 had left the heliosphere (the plasma bubble the Sun blows around itself). There were steep drops in the rate at which particles that originate inside the heliosphere hit the instrument's radiation detector. At the same time, there were significant increases in the rate at which particles that originate outside our heliosphere (also known as galactic cosmic rays) hit the detector. The graphs show data from Voyager 2's CRS, which averages the number of particle hits over a six-hour block of time. CRS detects both lower-energy particles that originate inside the heliosphere (greater than 0.5 MeV) and higher-energy particles that originate farther out in the galaxy (greater than 70 MeV). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22924

Stunning views like this image of Saturn's night side are only possible thanks to our robotic emissaries like Cassini. Until future missions are sent to Saturn, Cassini's image-rich legacy must suffice. Because Earth is closer to the Sun than Saturn, observers on Earth only see Saturn's day side. With spacecraft, we can capture views (and data) that are simply not possible from Earth, even with the largest telescopes. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 7 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken in visible light with the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft on June 7, 2017. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 751,000 miles (1.21 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 45 miles (72 kilometers) per pixel. The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21350

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The flag at NASA's Press Site is on guard as the mobile launcher, or ML, passes by the turn basin at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The ML is nearing the end of its 4.2-mile trek from Launch Pad 39B to the park site near the Vehicle Assembly Building as the sun sets. Data on the ML collected from structural and functional engineering tests during its two-week stay on the pad will be used in the next phases of construction. The 355-foot-tall ML structure, which took about two years to construct, will be modified by NASA’s 21st Century Ground Systems Program to support NASA’s Space Launch System, the heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronauts into deep space on future exploration missions. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In Orbital Sciences Corp. Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Sciences technicians continue to work on cabling on the aft end of the Taurus XL rocket's first stage motor. To the left is the interstage associated with the first stage. The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, targeted to lift off Feb. 23, 2011, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E, will take NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth orbit. Once in orbit, Glory will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Sciences Corp. technicians install the second petal to the aft end of the Taurus XL rocket's first stage motor. Three pedals will essentially make up the aft skirt of the first stage, covering and protecting a myriad of cabling. The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, targeted to lift off Feb. 23, 2011, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E, will take NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth. Glory is scheduled to collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of its robotic arm during sunset on Sept. 16, 2025, the 4,661st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This series of six images shows the rover's 7-foot-long (2.5-meter-long) arm setting its turret, a rotating platform for science instruments, onto rock targets nicknamed "Turbio" and "Rio Aguas Blancas." The front hazard cameras, located on the front of the rover's chassis, took the images between 3:55 and 4:51 p.m. local Mars time, showcasing the lengthening shadows at the end of the day. The sun finally set at 4:54 p.m. local Mars time. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26673

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In Orbital Sciences Corp. Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Sciences technicians continue to work on cabling on the aft end of the Taurus XL rocket's first stage motor. To the left is the interstage associated with the first stage. The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, targeted to lift off Feb. 23, 2011, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E, will take NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth orbit. Once in orbit, Glory will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

The trails have some curious features. Sometimes the clay gets pushed into a mound at the trail's end, as in this photo. Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/Cynthia Cheung To read a feature story on the Racetrack Playa go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/roving-rocks.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/roving-rocks.html</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. <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></b></b>

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians install the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians unwrap the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly before installation to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

jsc2004e52779 - Panorama view of Apollo 17 lunar surface photos for Station 6 taken during the third moonwalk of the mission by Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan and lunar module pilot Harrison (Jack) Schmitt. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 17 images starting with frame AS17-141-21575 through end frame AS17-141-21603. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the bright morning sun, Space Shuttle Discovery towers above the landscape, and cars below, as it sits on Launch Pad 39A. At left can be seen the environmental chamber known as the “white room” that provides access inside the orbiter when it is in place. The white room is at the end of the Orbiter Access Arm, moved away from the Space Shuttle in this photograph. Discovery is scheduled to launch Oct. 5 at 9:30 p.m. EDT on mission STS-92. Making the 100th Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Discovery will carry two pieces of hardware for the International Space Station, the Z1 truss, which is the cornerstone truss of the Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter. Discovery also will be making its 28th flight into space, more than any of the other orbiters to date

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly has been installed to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage using the Anodized gold aluminum bracket interface. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly has been installed to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage using the Anodized gold aluminum bracket interface. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians carefully lift the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly out of its wrappings prior to installation to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

This artist's concept shows OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, a planet discovered through a technique called microlensing. The planet was reported in a 2017 study in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Study authors used the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, to track the microlensing event and find the planet. Although OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is about the same mass as Earth, and the same distance from its host star as our planet is from our sun, the similarities may end there. This planet is nearly 13,000 light-years away and orbits a star so small, scientists aren't sure if it's a star at all. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21430

Saturn's moon Enceladus drifts before the rings and the tiny moon Pandora in this view captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Nov. 1, 2009. The entire scene is backlit by the Sun, providing striking illumination for the icy particles that make up both the rings and the jets emanating from the south pole of Enceladus, which is about 314 miles (505 km) across. Pandora, which is about (52 miles, 84 kilometers) wide, was on the opposite side of the rings from Cassini and Enceladus when the image was taken. This view looks toward the night side on Pandora as well, which is lit by dim golden light reflected from Saturn. This natural-color image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 149,600 miles (240,800 kilometers) from Enceladus and 352,200 miles (566,800 kilometers) from Pandora. The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17144

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians install the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, assembly to the aft end of the Taurus rocket's third stage. The P-POD holds three CubeSats or tiny satellites, designed and created by university and college students that will be carried on the Taurus rocket along with the Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

NASA image acquired May 30, 2011 On May 30, 2011, the STEREO Behind spacecraft caught a prominence in the process of leaping from one part of the Sun to another. In this movie: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5804079351">www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5804079351</a> combining images from the EUVI and COR1 telescopes, the prominence is first seen erupting by EUVI in images taken in the Helium II emission line at 304 Angstroms. At higher elevations, it is seen in white light by the COR1 telescope. In the COR1 images, the prominence pauses. Some of the prominence material drains back down, but most of it is deflected to the north, and ends up raining down on a completely different part of the Sun, far from where it started. This is very unusual behavior for an erupting prominence, and this event is sure to be carefully studied by scientists. Some out-of-focus dust particles just in front of the COR1 telescope are briefly visible toward the end of the movie. Credit: NASA/GSFC/STEREO <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> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagr.am/p/E_05l/" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

The Sun sported a very long filament that stretched out over 500,000 miles (800,000 km) and was visible for several days (June 3-4, 2014). It broke apart and dissipated soon after the end of the video clip. Filaments are tenuous strands of plasma held above the Sun's surface by magnetic forces. They appear darker because their temperature is somewhat cooler than that of the Sun's surface. The still image, shown in a combination of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, was taken at 11:33 UT on June 4. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Solar Dynamics Observatory <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>

Several thousand years ago, a star some 160,000 light-years away from us exploded, scattering stellar shrapnel across the sky. The aftermath of this energetic detonation is shown here in this striking image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3. The exploding star was a white dwarf located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of our nearest neighboring galaxies. Around 97 percent of stars within the Milky Way that are between a tenth and eight times the mass of the sun are expected to end up as white dwarfs. These stars can face a number of different fates, one of which is to explode as supernovae, some of the brightest events ever observed in the universe. If a white dwarf is part of a binary star system, it can siphon material from a close companion. After gobbling up more than it can handle — and swelling to approximately one and a half times the size of the sun — the star becomes unstable and ignites as a Type Ia supernova. This was the case for the supernova remnant pictured here, which is known as DEM L71. It formed when a white dwarf reached the end of its life and ripped itself apart, ejecting a superheated cloud of debris in the process. Slamming into the surrounding interstellar gas, this stellar shrapnel gradually diffused into the separate fiery filaments of material seen scattered across this skyscape. Image credit: ESA/Hubble &amp; NASA, Y. Chu Text credit: European Space Agency <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://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Caption: Artist's view of night sky from a hypothetical planet within a young Milky Way-like galaxy 10 billion years ago, the sky are ablaze with star birth. Pink clouds of gas harbor newborn stars, and bluish-white, young star clusters litter the landscape. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Z. Levay (STScI) More info: In one of the most comprehensive multi-observatory galaxy surveys yet, astronomers find that galaxies like our Milky Way underwent a stellar “baby boom,” churning out stars at a prodigious rate, about 30 times faster than today. Our sun, however, is a late “boomer.” The Milky Way’s star-birthing frenzy peaked 10 billion years ago, but our sun was late for the party, not forming until roughly 5 billion years ago. By that time the star formation rate in our galaxy had plunged to a trickle. Missing the party, however, may not have been so bad. The sun’s late appearance may actually have fostered the growth of our solar system’s planets. Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were more abundant later in the star-forming boom as more massive stars ended their lives early and enriched the galaxy with material that served as the building blocks of planets and even life on Earth. Astronomers don’t have baby pictures of our Milky Way’s formative years to trace the history of stellar growth so they studied galaxies similar in mass to our Milky Way, found in deep surveys of the universe. The farther into the universe astronomers look, the further back in time they are seeing, because starlight from long ago is just arriving at Earth now. From those surveys, stretching back in time more than 10 billion years, researchers assembled an album of images containing nearly 2,000 snapshots of Milky Way-like galaxies. The new census provides the most complete picture yet of how galaxies like the Milky Way grew over the past 10 billion years into today’s majestic spiral galaxies. The multi-wavelength study spans ultraviolet to far-infrared light, combining observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory, and ground-based telescopes, including the Magellan Baade Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/our-sun-came-late-to-the-milky-way-s-star-birth-party/" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/our-sun-came-late-to-the-mil...</a> <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://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Springtime in the South Polar region of Mars is a season of exciting activity. The thick coating of carbon dioxide ice that accumulated over the winter begins to sublimate (turn to vapor) as the sun rises higher in the sky and warms the ice. Sunlight penetrates through the transparent ice, and is absorbed at the base of the ice layer. The gas that forms as a result of the warming escapes through weaknesses in the ice and erupts in the form of magnificent geysers of gas and dust. This image captures some of this activity in a region near 85 degrees south latitude that is being monitored by HiRISE. What makes this image interesting is the changing directions of the fans left behind by the geysers, indicating that the winds blew from different directions at the time that the geysers erupted. Winds from the southwest produced the dark fans at both ends of the image, whereas northwesterly winds dominated dust deposition in between. Local topography probably played a role in altering the wind direction; this shaded relief image shows that this image traverses a trough in the South Polar layered deposits, which may have funneled winds down slope along the length of the trough. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22881

The Space Shuttle Discovery, mated to NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), takes to the air for its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft, with a crew of six, was launched into a 57-degree high inclination orbit from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 3:23 p.m., 9 September 1994. The mission featured the study of clouds and the atmosphere with a laser beaming system called Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE), and the first untethered space walk in ten years. A Spartan satellite was also deployed and later retrieved in the study of the sun's corona and solar wind. The mission was scheduled to end Sunday, 18 September, but was extended one day to continue science work. Bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center on 19 September, forced a one-day delay to September 20, with a weather divert that day to Edwards. Mission commander was Richard Richards, the pilot Blaine Hammond, while mission specialists were Jerry Linenger, Susan Helms, Carl Meade, and Mark Lee.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As the sun goes down behind Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the rotating service structure moves away from space shuttle Atlantis. Liftoff on its STS-129 mission is set for 2:28 p.m. EST Nov. 16. The movable structure, which provides weather protection and access for technicians to work on the shuttle, began being retracted at 5:20 p.m. EST and was in the park position by 5:56 p.m. STS-129 crew members are Commander Charles O. Hobaugh; Pilot Barry E. Wilmore; and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Robert L. Satcher Jr. On the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station, the crew will deliver two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. Atlantis will return to Earth a station crew member, Nicole Stott, who has spent more than two months aboard the orbiting laboratory. STS-129 is slated to be the final space shuttle Expedition crew rotation flight. For information on the STS-129 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – As the sun rises, the tails ends of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and space shuttle Discovery are illuminated under the Shuttle Landing Facility's mate-demate device at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Preparations are under way to back the vehicles out of the device, known as the MDD, which is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of the aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet that was originally manufactured for commercial use and modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. For more information on the SCA, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-013-DFRC.html. For more information on shuttle transition and retirement activities, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers move NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probe A, enclosed in a protective shipping container, to the end of the cargo bay of a U.S. Air Force C-17 airplane at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The RBSP mission will help us understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. The RBSP instruments will provide the measurements needed to characterize and quantify the plasma processes that produce very energetic ions and relativistic electrons. The mission is part of NASA’s broader Living With a Star Program that was conceived to explore fundamental processes that operate throughout the solar system, and in particular those that generate hazardous space weather effects in the vicinity of Earth and phenomena that could impact solar system exploration. RBSP is scheduled to begin its mission of exploration of Earth's Van Allen Radiation Belts and the extremes of space weather after launch. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for August 23. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers move NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probe B, enclosed in a protective shipping container, to the end of the cargo bay of a U.S. Air Force C-17 airplane at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The RBSP mission will help us understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. The RBSP instruments will provide the measurements needed to characterize and quantify the plasma processes that produce very energetic ions and relativistic electrons. The mission is part of NASA’s broader Living With a Star Program that was conceived to explore fundamental processes that operate throughout the solar system, and in particular those that generate hazardous space weather effects in the vicinity of Earth and phenomena that could impact solar system exploration. RBSP is scheduled to begin its mission of exploration of Earth's Van Allen Radiation Belts and the extremes of space weather after launch. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for August 23. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

ISS038-E-057979 (22 Feb. 2014) --- This image, photographed by one of the Expedition 38 crew members aboard the International Space Station, shows the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin at the southern end of icebound Green Bay. This arm of Lake Michigan is six miles wide as seen in this view. The heavy snowfalls of the winter of 2014 cover the landscape. Combined with low sun illumination of a winter day, all surfaces appear as shades of gray. Fields appear brighter (top right, lower right), the cityscape (lower half of the image) appears as a checkerboard of grays, and forests (top left) appear dark. The center of the city lies on the Fox River, one of the few larger rivers in the United States that flow north. Open water appears as dark patches at the mouth of the river where a power station emits warm water. Thinner (grayer) ice can be detected where slightly warmer water extends from the river mouth towards Long Tail Point, an ancient shoreline of the bay. Crews aboard the space station do not usually take such detailed photographs because of the difficulty of getting sharp images with long lenses (in this case a 1000mm lens). Streets and bridges crossing the Fox River appear quite clearly.

The complexity and richness of Jupiter's "southern lights" (also known as auroras) are on display in this animation of false-color maps from NASA's Juno spacecraft. Auroras result when energetic electrons from the magnetosphere crash into the molecular hydrogen in the Jovian upper atmosphere. The data for this animation were obtained by Juno's Ultraviolet Spectrograph. The images are centered on the south pole and extend to latitudes of 50 degrees south. Each frame of the animation includes data from 30 consecutive Juno spins (about 15 minutes), just after the spacecraft's fifth close approach to Jupiter on February 2, 2017. The eight frames of the animation cover the period from 13:40 to 15:40 UTC at Juno. During that time, the spacecraft was receding from 35,000 miles to 153,900 miles (56,300 kilometers to 247,600 kilometers) above the aurora; this large change in distance accounts for the increasing fuzziness of the features. Jupiter's prime meridian is toward the bottom, and longitudes increase counterclockwise from there. The sun was located near the bottom at the start of the animation, but was off to the right by the end of the two-hour period. The red coloring of some of the features indicates that those emissions came from deeper in Jupiter's atmosphere; green and white indicate emissions from higher up in the atmosphere. Animations are available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21643

The Space Shuttle Discovery settles to the main runway at Edwards, California, at 2:13 p.m. (PDT) 20 September 1994, to conclude mission STS-64. The spacecraft, with a crew of six, was launched into a 57-degree high inclination orbit from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 3:23 p.m. (PDT), 9 September 1994. The mission featured the study of clouds and the atmosphere with a laser beaming system called Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE), and the first untethered space walk in over ten years. A Spartan satellite was also deployed and later retrieved in the study of the sun's corona and the solar wind. The mission was scheduled to end Sunday, 18 September, but was extended one day to continue science work. Bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center on September 19, forced a one-day delay to September 20, with a weather divert that day to Edwards. Mission commander was Richard Richards, the pilot Blaine Hammond, while mission specialists were Jerry Linenger, Susan Helms, Carl Meade, and Mark Lee.