Rocket Blasts Off During 2017 Student Launch Challenge
Nearly 50 student teams from middle and high schools, colleges and universities in 22 states demonstrated advanced rocketry and engineering skills in NASA's 2017 Student Launch challenge. Teams spent eight months building and testing rockets designed to fly to an altitude of one mile, deploy an automated parachute system, and safely land for reuse. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Prepared for Testing at Johnson Space Center
The towering primary mirror of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope stands inside a cleanroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it will undergo its last cryogenic test before it is launched into space in 2018. In preparation for testing, the “wings” of the mirror (which consist of the three segments on each side) were spread open. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
NASA's IceBridge Wraps Up 2017 Arctic Campaign With Southern Greenland Flight
A fjord in southern Greenland, as seen during Operation IceBridge's last flight of the 2017 Arctic campaign, on May 12, 2017. This final full science flight, ICESat-2 South, was designed along the ground tracks of NASA’s upcoming ICESat-2, to fill in a gap in altimetry coverage of central southern Greenland. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
A view of Earth from 36,000 nautical miles away as photographed from the Apollo 10 spacecraft during its trans-lunar journey toward the moon. While the Yucatan Peninsula is obscured by clouds, nearly all of Mexico north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec can be clearly delineated. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
A pair of CubeSats, with the Earth's limb in the background, moments after being ejected from a small satellite deployer outside of the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module on Wednesday, May 16, 2017. Over a dozen CubeSats were ejected into Earth orbit this week to study Earth and space phenomena for the next one to two years. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
This illustration depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover on the surface of Mars. The mission, targeted for launch in July/August 2020, takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
May 24, 1962 - Scott Carpenter on the Way to Mercury-Atlas 7 Launch Site
Astronaut Scott Carpenter walks to the launch site to begin the Mercury-Atlas 7 (MA-7) mission on May 24, 1962. Carpenter's Aurora 7 capsule lifted off aboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:45 a.m. EST, May 24. Carpenter was the fourth American in space and second American to orbit Earth. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Sequence of Juno Spacecraft's Close Approach to Jupiter
This sequence of enhanced-color images shows how quickly the viewing geometry changes for NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it swoops by Jupiter. The images were obtained by JunoCam. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Close-up View of Neutron Star Mission's X-Ray Concentrator Optics
A new NASA mission, the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), is headed for the International Space Station to observe one of the strangest observable objects in the universe. In this photo, NICER’s X-ray concentrator optics are inspected for dust and foreign object debris that could impair functionality once in space. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
On April 3, 2017, the student-controlled EarthKAM camera aboard the International Space Station captured this photograph of a favorite target -- the Grand Canyon -- from low Earth orbit. The camera has been aboard the orbiting outpost since the first space station expedition began in November 2000 and supports approximately four missions annually. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Expedition 51 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet captured this nighttime photo of Florida from the International Space Station. Bright lights include the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, and Orlando, with Cape Canaveral to the east, where launch preparations for SpaceX's next cargo mission are underway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
Eleventh SpaceX Commercial Resupply Mission to Space Station Set for Launch
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft onboard, is seen shortly after being raised vertical at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Thursday, June 1, 2017. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:55 p.m EDT. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
This observation from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show it is late summer in the Southern hemisphere, so the Sun is low in the sky and subtle topography is accentuated in orbital images. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft onboard, launches from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Saturday, June 3, 2017. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
From high above Saturn's northern hemisphere, NASA's Cassini spacecraft gazes over the planet's north pole, with its intriguing hexagon and bullseye-like central vortex. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
NASA astronaut Jack Fischer tweeted this photograph from the International Space Station on June 3, 2017, writing, "Never had a corner office with a view, but I must admit, I like it… a lot! #SpaceRocks." Fischer, a member of the 2009 astronaut class, has been living and working aboard the orbiting laboratory since April 20, 2017. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
NASA's 2017 astronaut candidates take a group photo at Ellington Field near Johnson Space Center. Pictured are, front row, left to right, Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Robb Kulin, Jessica Watkins, Loral O'Hara; back row, left to right, Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, and Raja Chari. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
In biology, “symbiosis” refers to two organisms that live close to and interact with one another. Astronomers have long studied a class of stars – called symbiotic stars – that co-exist in a similar way. Astronomers are gaining a better understanding of how volatile this close stellar relationship can be. (More at NASA Picture of The Day)
