The International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Busy Traffic at the International Space Station

Busy Traffic at the International Space Station: Expedition 47 Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA took this photograph on April 6, 2016, as the International Space Station flew over Madagascar, showing three of the five spacecraft docked to the station. The station crew awaits the scheduled launch today, April 8, of the third resupply vehicle in three weeks: a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Computer-Simulated Image of a Supermassive Black Hole

Computer-Simulated Image of a Supermassive Black Hole: Astronomers have uncovered a near-record breaking supermassive black hole in an unlikely place: in the center of a galaxy in a sparsely populated area of the universe. The observations, made by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Telescope in Hawaii, may indicate that these monster objects may be more common than once thought.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Hubble, Chandra, Jansky VLA Telescopes Collaborate on Galaxy Cluster

Hubble, Chandra, Jansky VLA Telescopes Collaborate on Galaxy Cluster: In October 2013 Hubble kicked off the Frontier Fields program, targeting six massive galaxy clusters, enormous collections of hundreds or even thousands of galaxies. MACS J0717, shown here, is one of the most complex galaxy clusters known, the result of four galaxy clusters colliding.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

March 16, 1966: Gemini's First Docking of Two Spacecraft in Earth Orbit

March 16, 1966: Gemini's First Docking of Two Spacecraft in Earth Orbit: On March 16, 1966, command pilot Neil Armstrong and pilot David Scott successfully docked their Gemini VIII spacecraft with the Agena target vehicle, the first-ever linking of two spacecraft together in Earth orbit. This crucial spaceflight technology milestone would prove vital to the success of future moon landing missions.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

South Africa From the Space Station's EarthKAM

South Africa From the Space Station's EarthKAM: The remotely controlled Sally Ride EarthKAM aboard the International Space Station snapped this striking photograph of South Africa on Feb. 9, 2016. The EarthKAM program allows students to request photographs of specific Earth features, which are taken by a special camera mounted on the space station when it passes over those features.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Tilted Terminator

Tilted Terminator: NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this view of Saturn's moon Enceladus that shows wrinkled plains that are remarkably youthful in appearance, being generally free of large impact craters.