Space Exploration Milestones

Historic moments in space exploration, including launches, planetary encounters, and cosmic phenomena, depicted with dramatic visuals and archival footage.

Solar Flare

Full Moon Rises Behind a Roaring Natural Gas Well Blowout

S69-39957 (16 July 1969) --- A 70mm Airborne Lightweight Optical Tracking System (ALOTS) took this picture. ALOTS tracking camera mounted on an Air Force EC-135 aircraft flying at about 40,000 feet altitude photographed this event in the early moments of the Apollo 11 launch. The 7.6 million-pound thrust Saturn V (S-1C) first stage boosts the space vehicle to an altitude of 36.3 nautical miles at 50.6 nautical miles downrange in 2 minutes 40.8 seconds. The S-1C stage separates at 2 minutes 41.6 seconds after liftoff. The crew of the Apollo 11 NASA's first lunar landing mission are astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. The Apollo 11 launch was at 9 32 a.m. (EDT), July 16, 1969.

Colliding planets with gas atmosphere background hd

ISS034-E-005039 (18 Nov. 2012) --- Soyuz TMA-05M (descent module) beginning to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on Nov. 19 (real time, Nov. 18, U.S. time) leaving a plasma trail as the Expedition 33 crew streaked toward a pre-dawn landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan northeast of Arkalyk.

Magnetische Eruption auf der Sonne. Eine starke Explosion mit Plasmaauswurf auf der Sonne im stellaren Raum. Abschaltung des Funksignals auf dem Planeten Erde *** Magnetic Eruption at the Sun a Strong Explosion with Plasma ejection at the Sun at stellar Room Shutdown of radio signal at the Planets Earth 1102804955

Flame Test for Sodium

Solar Flare

NASA's InSight lander snapped a series of images of the Sun rising and setting on Mars using the camera on its robotic arm on April 10, 2022, the 1,198th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Colorized transmission electron micrograph of an HIV-1 virus particle (red/yellow) budding from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell (blue).

HVNP Kilauea lava glowing smoke explosion ocean combustion D1548

Flame Test for Strontium

Hidden behind a shroud of dust in the constellation Cygnus is an exceptionally bright source of radio emission called DR21. Visible light images reveal no trace of what is happening in this region because of heavy dust obscuration. Spitzer Space Telescope.

Perseverance Views Drifting Clouds. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used one of its navigation cameras to take a series of images of drifting clouds just before sunrise on March 18, 2023, the 738th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists on both the Perseverance mission and NASA's Curiosity rover mission are studying the formation process of Martian clouds. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach,

USA, Nevada, Winnemucca. Annular Solar Eclipse, Fully Covered

The Earth lays in ruins after an asteriod hits the planet.

Project 30-35 - Operation Teapot (Nevada Test Site) Detonation. TESLA fireball, aerial view. Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti onboard, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission is the fourth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agencys Commercial Crew Program. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti launched at 3:52 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost.

ECLIPSE DE SOL - INTERPOSICION DE LA LUNA ENTRE LA TIERRA Y EL SOL - 1994.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The high-altitude balloon that carried an instrument-laden capsule bursts 105,000 feet above Earth during a flight hosted by Rocket University participants. The bursting of the balloon allowed the capsule to free-fall to 50,000 feet and then deploy a parachute to land safely on the ground. The test flight was used to evaluate the stability of an instrumented capsule as it fell to Earth before its parachute opened. Rocket University is a program of courses, workshops, labs and projects offered to engineering and research pros of all stripes to keep their skills fresh and broaden their experiences.

ISS040-E-023287 (27 June 2014) --- This is a close-up image photographed during a run of the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) experiment onboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station. Following a series of preparations, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman (out of frame), Expedition 40 flight engineer, conducted runs of the experiment, which examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity. The experiment is planned for guiding strategies for extinguishing fires in microgravity. BASS results contribute to the combustion computational models used in the design of fire detection and suppression systems in microgravity and on Earth.

Italy, Sicily, Mount Etna, activity of the explosive vent on the North side of the Montagnola

CEO during Expedition 69. iss069e031368 (July 13, 2023) -- Layers of clouds cover North Africa as the International Space Station orbited 259 miles above.

Diver exploring anchor ice and brine channels underwater, sea ice, Antarctica

Color composite close-up of Jupiter's ring system

Project 30-18 - Operation Upshot/Knothole (Nevada Test Site) Detonation. SIMON fireball and cloud, aerial (2 of 3). Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

Italy, Sicily, Mount Etna, One vent in this fissure is active with Stromoblian bursts 50-70m high.

STS093-(S)-014 (28 July 1999) --- Following the landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 27, 1999, this close-up view shows what appears to be three small holes in the liquid hydrogen tubes inside the nozzle on main engine No. 3. Engineers will examine the engine to determine if a possible hydrogen leak occurred during the STS-93 launch on July 23.

SpaceX Starlink Falcon 9 rocket launch as seen from the National Geographic Venture in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, North America

ISS035-E-014987 (6 April 2013) --- This is a close-up image photographed during a run of the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) experiment onboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station. Following a series of preparations, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (out of frame) conducted runs of the experiment, which examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity. The experiment is planned for guiding strategies for extinguishing fires in microgravity. BASS results contribute to the combustion computational models used in the design of fire detection and suppression systems in microgravity and on Earth.

Smoke from a nuclear power plant from a nuclear power plant

June 2006 - Explosive Strombolian eruption of Stromboli volcano producing ash cloud, volcanic bombs and lava, Aeolian Islands, Mediterranean Sea, Italy.

February 23, 2013 - Powerful night time explosive eruption of Sakurajima volcano, Japan. Trajectories of glowing incandescent volcanic bombs are visible.

Three specimens of bi-terminated hyaline quartz illuminated by lights of a different color on black background

Project 24 - Operation Hardtack (Enewetak/Bikini/Johnnston Island Area) Detonation. WAHOO detonation: series of 27 photos, aerial view of burst & base surge (25 of 27). Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

Jupiter Plume

Project 24 - Operation Hardtack (Enewetak/Bikini/Johnnston Island Area) Detonation. WAHOO detonation: series of 27 photos, aerial view of burst & base surge (21 of 27). Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

Meteorite fireball with fiery braid isolated on black background

ISS035-E-010340 (28 March 2013) --- One of the Expedition 35 crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station took this photo which was part of a series documenting the launch of the "other half" of the Expedition 35 crew. The Soyuz TMA-08M rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 29, 2013 (Kazakh time) carrying Expedition 35 Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov, NASA Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy and Russian Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin to the International Space Station. Their Soyuz rocket launched at 2:43 a.m., March 29, local time, while it was still March 28 in GMT and USA time zones.

View of the launch of the Soyuz TMA-08M/34S spacecraft as seen by Expedition 35 crewmembers aboard the ISS.

Turmeric (curcuma longa), Powder in a Small Jar Exploding against Black Background, Indian Spice

Broken pencil

Project 20 - Operation Greenhouse (Enewetak) Detonation. Dog Cloud. Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

The ISS Progress 79 resupply ship from Roscosmos leaves a plasma trail as it reenters Earth's atmosphere for a fiery, but safe demise above the Pacific Ocean.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will enter the Martian atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

A surprise landslump in Melas Chasma was observed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

01/14/2014. Takeoff and Explosion of the Challenger Sts-51l 01/28/1986 Archdc.

ISS030-E-015737 (25 Dec. 2011) --- This night time infrared image of the Los Angeles metropolitan area was photographed by an Expedition 30 crew member aboard the International Space Station on Dec. 25 (though it was late Dec. 24 in California). The focal length used was 58-mm and the exposure time was 1/200 seconds.

The International Space Station was orbiting into a sunset 263 miles above Asia when this photograph of the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship ascending into space was captured by NASA astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Bob Hines.

Earth observation taken by the Expedition 35 crew aboard the ISS. Night view of airglow and aurora.

Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) research vessel observes males competing for female, Maui, Hawaii Notice must accompany published photo - photo obtained under NMFS permit #987

Breast cancer

KIKK Festival NAMUR, BELGIUM - NOVEMBER 04 : For 10 years, the KIKK festival has been a real laboratory that has never stopped evolving and re-inventing itself. The KIKK Festival will offer from the 4th of November to the 7th, an immersion in the universe of digital and creative cultures. .on NOVEMBER 04, 2021 in Namur, Belgium, 4/11/2021 Namur Belgium PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxBEL Copyright: xBertxVanxDenxBrouckex

mount etna erupting at night lava streaming from south east crater at 3000m sicily, italy

High angle view of an Orange Sea Cucumber underwater (Cucumaria miniata)

The Philae lander of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission took this parting shot of its mother ship, Rosetta, shortly after separation on Nov. 12, 2014. The image was taken with the lander's CIVA-P imaging system.

Artist concept depicting the formation of a planet.

Some of the prominences that float like lazy clouds above the solar surface suddenly erupt and break away from the Sun in cataclysmic action. The trigger of this coronal transient, like many others seen by Skylab's coronagraph, was an eruptive prominence that surged outward from the limb of the Sun, ejecting matter that disturbed the outer corona. This image is of the surge in action in ultraviolet light of ionized helium. Simultaneous observations like this made possible an almost immediate understanding of the new-found cosmic phenomenon. The elbow prominence was accidentally photographed by Astronaut Garriott (Skylab-3) while observing a small flare near the limb of the Sun beneath the mighty arch on August 9, 1973.

The Soyuz MS-08 rocket is launched with Expedition 55 Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and flight engineers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA, Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Artemyev, Arnold, and Feustel will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.

S81-33180 (12 April 1981) --- The two solid rocket boosters are jettisoned from the climbing space shuttle Columbia as a successful launch phase continues for NASA's first manned space mission since 1975. Astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen are aboard the Columbia.

Meteor hitting planet Earth, illustration

Solar Eclipse viewing at the Goddard Space Flight Center Mall

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With its engines burning bright against the late night sky, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, travels upward after lifting off Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:05 a.m. EDT.RBSP will explore changes in Earth's space environment caused by the sun -- known as "space weather" -- that can disable satellites, create power-grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will provide data on the fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the universe.

Close up of light in sky, Sri Lanka Description: Photograph of "an unusual atmospheric atmospheric occurrence observed over Sri Lanka" forwarded to the Ministry of Defence by RAF Fylingdales. Date: 27th March 2004 sky, clouds, ufo, srilanka, ministryofdefence

Nighttime view of the launch of the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft as seen by Expedition 42 crewmembers aboard the ISS. Image was released by astronaut on Instagram.

A Rocket Lab Electron rockets nine first-stage Rutherford engines ignite as NASAs Educational Launch of Nanosatellites-19 (ELaNa-19) payload lifts off at 6:33 a.m. UTC on Dec. 17 (1:33 p.m. EST on Dec. 16) from Launch Complex-1, located at Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. The liftoff marks the first flight of a payload under NASAs Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS). Managed by NASAs Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, VCLS was developed to provide increased access to space specifically for these small spacecraft, called CubeSats.

NASA, Roscosmos, and Russian Search and Recovery Forces meet at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Karaganda, Kazakhstan to discuss the readiness for the landing of Expedition 60 crew members Nick Hague of NASA and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, along with visiting astronaut Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. Hague and Ovchinin are returning after 203 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 59 and 60 crews onboard the International Space Station. Almansoori will have logged 8 days in space during his first flight as an astronaut.

China`s Chang e 4 lunar probe and Yutu 2 Lunar rover landing on the surface of the moon on January 3, 2019 with the sun in the background. 3D illustration

Photograph of the Great Comet of 1882. Photographed by Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923) an American astronomer. Dated 19th Century

Photograph of a comet passing overhead in 1892. Photographed by Edward Emerson Barnard (1857-1923) an American astronomer. Dated 19th century

volcanic eruption expelling pyroclastic material at night

ISS034-E-005034 (18 Nov. 2012) --- Soyuz TMA-05M (descent module) beginning to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on Nov. 19 (real time, Nov. 18, U.S. time) leaving a plasma trail as the Expedition 33 crew streaked toward a pre-dawn landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan northeast of Arkalyk.

Meteor in space, computer illustration.

This artist's concept envisions what hydrocarbon ice forming on a liquid hydrocarbon sea of Saturn's moon Titan might look like.

November 26, 2012 - Explosive strombolian type eruption of Batu Tara volcano, Komba Island, Indonesia. Trajectories of red glowing lava bombs are visible.

The temperature difference between the boiling water and freezing air can be more than 200 degrees.

Glowing fiber optic thread with needle

The NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Tuesday, May 22, 2018, from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The mission will measure changes in how mass is redistributed within and among Earth's atmosphere, oceans, land and ice sheets, as well as within Earth itself. GRACE-FO is sharing its ride to orbit with five Iridium NEXT communications satellites as part of a commercial rideshare agreement.

Two enormously powerful cloud-to-ground lightning strikes with multiple air discharge channels. Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Aurora as Seen from Earth Orbit, Looking Down

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off on May 19, 2022, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for NASA Boeings uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) for the agencys Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff for OFT-2 occurred at 6:54 p.m. EDT. Starliner is expected to arrive at the space station for docking about 24 hours later with more than 500 pounds of NASA cargo. The flight test is designed to test the systems end-to-end capabilities for NASAs Commercial Crew Program providing valuable data towards NASA certifying Boeings crew transportation system for regular crewed flights to and from the International Space Station.

NASA successfully tested the Orion spacecrafts parachute system on March 16, 2018 at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona. It was the first time engineers intentionally failed one of the systems three Forward Bay Cover parachutes. The Forward Bay Cover protects the upper part of Orion throughout its mission, but must be jettisoned during landing so the rest of Orions parachutes can deploy. Engineers are nearing completion of the series of tests to qualify the parachute system for flights with crew.

Photograph of developing Cumulonimbus clouds and several pileus caps. Photographed by Grant W. Goodge. Dated 1987

Italy, Sicily, Mount Etna, Explosions at the summit of the Montagnola, accompanied by flashing arcs and atmospheric shock waves

Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 459 (Enhanced)

JUPITER'S FAINT RING SYSTEM IS SHOWN HERE AS TWO ORANGE LINES PROTRUDE FROM THE LEFT TOWARD JUPITER'S LIMB. THIS COLORFUL COMPOSITE WAS TAKEN IN JUPITER'S SHADOW THROUGH ORANGE AND VIOLET FILTERS. THE COLORFUL IMAGES OF JUPITER'S LIMB ARE EVIDENCE OF THE SPACECRAFT MOTION DERING THIS LONG EXPOSURE. VOYAGER 2

Meteorite and the moon in the night sky Full moon image with water Copyright: xZoonar.com/gannaxacheretx 2890024

The Soyuz MS-13 rocket is launched with Expedition 60 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Andrew Morgan of NASA, and flight engineer Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency), Saturday, July 20, 2019 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Skvortsov, Morgan, and Parmitano launched at 12:28 p.m. Eastern time (9:28 p.m. Baikonur time) to begin their mission to the International Space Station.

A820544 AREA 25 ACOUSTICAL SENSOR STUDY BROUILLARD, JOHN A MAR 16 82EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 3/16/1982 ACOUSTICAL SENSOR STUDY; AREA 25; BROUILLARD, JOHN; CLOUDS; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; GRAVEL; GRAVELLY SOILS; HELICOPTERS; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; SENSORS; TEST SITES; TESTING; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPON EFFECTS; WEAPONS RELATED; WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Pearlfish, Encheliophis sp., Yap, Micronesia

iss061e066550 (Dec. 3, 2019) --- Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, and its metropolitan area with a population of 2.2 million, is pictured on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as the International Space Station orbited 252 miles above the Middle East.

Missile launch, earth and aerial view from space for war, bomb and global conflict in apocalypse. Rocket, nuclear weapon and drone strike from army, military and warzone with explosion on landscape

Digital 3d illustration of cancer cells in human body

space background image with luminescence of beams

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