This composite image contains the deepest X-ray image ever made of the spectacular star forming region called 30 Doradus. By combining X-ray data from NASAβs Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue and green) with optical data from NASAβs Hubble Space Telescope (yellow) and radio data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (orange), this stellar arrangement comes alive.
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this feather-shaped iridescent cloud just after sunset on Jan. 27, 2023, the 3,724th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Studying the colors in iridescent clouds tells scientists something about particle size within the clouds and how they grow over time. These clouds were captured as part of a follow-on imaging campaign to study noctilucent, or "night-shining" clouds, which started in 2021. This scene made up of 28 individual images captured by the rover's Mast Camera, or Mastcam.
The blue tentacle-like arms containing gecko-like adhesive pads, attached to an Astrobee robotic free-flyer, reach out and grapple a "capture cube" inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module. The experimental grippers, outfitted on the toaster-sized Astrobee, demonstrated autonomous detection and capture techniques that may be used to remove space debris and service satellites in low Earth orbit.
LEDA 1313424, aptly nicknamed the Bullseye, is two and a half times the size of our Milky Way and has nine rings β six more than any other known galaxy. High-resolution imagery from NASAβs Hubble Space Telescope confirmed eight rings, and data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii confirmed a ninth. Hubble and Keck also confirmed which galaxy dove through the Bullseye, creating these rings: the blue dwarf galaxy that sits to its immediate center-left.
Engineers and technicians with NASAβs Exploration Ground Systems Program prepare to lift the left center center booster segment shown with the iconic NASA βwormβ insignia for the agencyβs SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.
The full Moon, also known in January as the Wolf Moon, rises above the Lincoln Memorial and the Memorial Bridge, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, as seen from Arlington, Virginia.
This is an artist's concept of a two-person Gemini spacecraft in flight, showing a cutaway view. The Gemini program was designed as a bridge between the Mercury and Apollo programs.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 commander Suni Williams is pictured during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station where she replaced a rate gyro assembly that helps maintain the orientation of the orbital outpost.
The New York-based artist team Geraluz, left, and WERC, right, and their son Amaru Alvarez, 5, pose for picture with the mural βTo the Moon, and Backβ by the artist team that was created as part of the reimagined NASA Art Program, Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at 350 Hudson Street in New York City. The murals use geometrical patterns to invite deeper reflection on the exploration, creativity, and connection with the cosmos.
iss072e031823 (Oct. 7, 2024) -- Peering through the window of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this image of the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft as vivid green and pink aurora swirled through Earth's atmosphere while the International Space Station soared 273 miles above the Indian Ocean.
NASAβs X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft completed its first maximum afterburner test at Lockheed Martinβs Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. This full-power test, during which the engine generates additional thrust, validates the additional power needed for meeting the testing conditions of the aircraft. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASAβs Quesst mission, which aims to overcome a major barrier to supersonic flight over land by reducing the noise of sonic booms.
Here is a new version of the βChristmas tree cluster.β NGC 2264 is a cluster of young stars between one and five million years old. (For comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about 5 billion years old β about 1,000 times older.)
During the morning of March 20, 2015, a total solar eclipse was visible from parts of Europe, and a partial solar eclipse from northern Africa and northern Asia. NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Arctic Ocean on March 20 at 10:45 UTC (6:45 a.m. EDT) and captured the eclipse's shadow over the clouds in the Arctic Ocean.
A maze of cables and sensors snakes through a major piece of Gateway, humanityβs first space station around the Moon, during a key testing phase earlier this year to ensure the lunar-orbiting science lab can withstand the harsh conditions of deep space.
NGC 602 is a star cluster that lies on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way. This image combines X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and infrared data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Teams with NASAβs Exploration Ground Systems transport lower the agencyβs 212-foot-tall SLS (Space Launch System) core stage into High Bay 2 at the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAβs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The one-of-a kind lifting beam is designed to lift the core stage from the transfer aisle to High Bay 2 where it will remain while teams stack the two solid rocket boosters on top of mobile launcher 1 for the SLS core stage.
An atmospheric probe model attached upside down to a quad rotor remotely piloted aircraft ascends with the Moon visible on Oct. 22, 2024. The quad rotor aircraft released the probe above Rogers Dry Lake, a flight area adjacent NASAβs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The probe was designed and built at the center.
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a spiral galaxy, named UGC 10043. Located roughly 150 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens, UGC 10043 is one of the somewhat rare spiral galaxies that we see edge-on.
NASA astronauts Loral OβHara, left, and Jasmin Moghbeli, right, are seen during a tour of the Earth Information Center, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. OβHara and Moghbeli spent six months in space as part of Expedition 70 aboard the International Space Station.
A portrait of Mary W. Jackson is seen after it was unveiled, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington. Mary W. Jackson was a pioneering aerospace engineer and mathematician at NASAβs Langley Research Center.