Views From Space

A collection of images showcasing various celestial and planetary views, including the Sun's surface, Earth from afar, and the Moon, highlighting the beauty of space.

One of the mysterious lights is photographed over the fjell, whose ridge is just visible in the late hours of twilight. Mysterious lights appear regularly over Hessdalen, Norway, and have never been explained. Date: 1983

Surface of the Sun Surface of the Sun Copyright: xZoonar.com/DirkxSchroederx 1034874

iss059e042046 (May 3, 2019) --- 258 miles above the North Atlantic Ocean an Expedition 59 crewmember photographed the contrail of an aircraft flying below as the International Space Station approached the coast of Ireland.

For the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic images taken by NASA's Voyager mission, a new version of the image known as the Pale Blue Dot. Planet Earth is visible as a bright speck within the sunbeam just right of center and appears softly blue, as in the original version published in 1990 (see PIA00452). This updated version uses modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view while attempting to respect the original data and intent of those who planned the images. In 1990, the Voyager project planned to shut off the Voyager 1 spacecraft's imaging cameras to conserve power and because the probe, along with its sibling Voyager 2, would not fly close enough to any other objects to take pictures. Before the shutdown, the mission commanded the probe to take a series of 60 images designed to produce what they termed the Family Portrait of the Solar System. Executed on Valentine's Day 1990, this sequence returned images for making color views of

ISS040-E-012007 (14 June 2014) --- A waning gibbous moon is the central focus of this image taken by one of the Expedition 40 crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station while the outpost was flying at an altitude of 219 nautical miles above eastern Europe. This image and the adjacent photograph (frame no. ISS04e012006) were taken only seconds apart but the moon appears larger in this frame because a 160mm focal length was used for this image and an 80mm lens was utilized for the other one.

ISS028-E-015790 (10 July 2011) --- Although it appears very tiny in this view, photographed through a nadir-facing window of the International Space Station's Zvezda service module, the space shuttle Atlantis docked with the oribiting outpost shortly afterward. Docking took place at 10:27 a.m. (CDT).

A BARREL team member watches as one of their payloads launches from Esrange Space Center on Aug. 29, 2016. Throughout August 2016, the BARREL team was at Esrange Space Center near Kiruna, Sweden, launching a series of six scientific payloads on miniature scientific balloons. The NASA-funded BARREL - which stands for Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses - primarily measures X-rays in Earths atmosphere near the North and South Poles. These X-rays are produced by electrons raining down into the atmosphere from two giant swaths of radiation that surround Earth, called the Van Allen belts. Learning about the radiation near Earth helps us to better protect our satellites. Several of the BARREL balloons also carried instruments built by undergraduate students to measure the total electron content of Earths ionosphere, as well as the low-frequency electromagnetic waves that help to scatter electrons into Earths atmosphere. Though about 90 feet in diameter, the BARRE

Star Wars Missile Defense Test, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Lunar observation taken during moonset by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS. Earth airglow is in view. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter.

One of the mysterious lights is photographed over the fjell, whose ridge is just visible in the late hours of twilight. Mysterious lights appear regularly over Hessdalen, Norway, and have never been explained. Date: 1983

ISS034-E-010172 (21 Dec. 2012) --- As the International Space Station and SoyuzTMA-07M spacecraft were making their relative approaches on Dec. 21, one of the Expedition 34 crew members on the orbital outpost captured this photo of the distant Soyuz, which appears very small in the frame. Inside the arriving spacecraft were astronaut Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, cosmonaut Roman Romanenko of Russia's Federal Space Agency and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn.

The Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold of NASA, along with Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Feustel, Arnold, and Artemyev are returning after 197 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 55 and 56 crews onboard the International Space Station.

Astronaut in space over Earth planet. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Mixed media. Exploring outer space. Mixed media

IC443, Jellyfish Nebula in false colours of the Hubble palette, jellyfish nebula, galactic supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini on the ecliptic

Celestial digital art, Mars planet in outer space showing the beauty of space exploration. planet texture furnished by NASA-3d illustration

P-34709 Range 157,000 kilometers (98,000 miles) This Voyager 2 high resolution color image, taken 2 hours before closest approach, provides obvious evidence of vertical relief in Neptune's bright cloud streaks. These clouds were observed at a latitude of 29° N near Neptune's east terminator. The linear cloud forms are stretched approximately along lines of constant latitude and the sun is toward the lower left. The bright sides of the clouds that face the sun are brighter than the surrounding cloud deck because they are more directly exposed to the sun. Shadows can be seen on the side directly opposite the sun. These shadows are less distinct at short wavelengths (violet filter) and more distinct at long wavelengths (orange filter). This can be understood if the underlying cloud deck on which the shadow is cast is at a relatively great depth, in which case scattering by molecules in the overlying atmopsphere will diffuse light into the shadow. Because molecules scatter blue light much

S62-03248 (24 May 1962) --- Earth and sky views taken with hand-held camera by astronaut M. Scott Carpenter during Mercury-Atlas 7 (MA-7) mission.

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

Using data from NASA's Kepler and Spitzer Space Telescopes, this artist's concept shows a star behind a shattered comet.

The ISS Progress 79 resupply ship from Roscosmos is pictured 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean after undocking from the Zvezda service module's rear port and departing the vicinity the International Space Station.

Fuel Tank and Vented Gases

ISS032-E-011477 (1 Aug. 2012) --- One of the Expedition 32 crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station capturedthis image of the full moon on Aug. 1, 2012. Because of the home planet's atmosphere, it is not easy at first sighting to recognize the heavenly body as the full moon. Another picture in this series depicts a totally different image of Earth's natural satellite because of the lack of distortion caused by the atmosphere.

iss040e098572 (8/19/2014) --- A dark view of the Orbital Cygnus 2 reentry taken by the Expedition 40 crew. Light streak from reentry visible in frame. The Thermal Protection Material Flight Test and Reentry Data Collection (RED-Data2) investigation studies a new type of recording device that rides along a vehicle reentering Earths atmosphere, providing crucial data about the extreme conditions a spacecraft encounters during atmospheric reentry.

ISS040-E-000102 (14 May 2014) --- The Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft departs from the International Space Station and heads for a landing near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on May 14, 2014. Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 39 commander; along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Soyuz commander and Expedition 39 flight engineer, and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, flight engineer, are returning to Earth after more than six months onboard the space station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews.

Volcanic eruption on Jupiter's moon, lo. Upper; Plume 5: Lower; Plume 6. Voyager II. NASA photograph.

ISS035-E-010333 (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.

Moondog around the Moon

Earth Observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Folder lists this as Airplanes in flight with contrails.

This photograph of aurora borealis, northern aurora, was taken during the Spacelab-J (SL-J) mission (STS-47). People who live in the northernmost areas like Alaska or work in the southernmost regions like Antarctica often see colorful lights produced by Earth's natural electromagnetic generator; these shimmering expanses of light are auroras, commonly called the northern and southern lights. Charged particles from the magnetosphere follow magnetic fields and are accelerated toward Earth at the magnetic poles where they strike molecules in the upper atmosphere, staining the sky with the red and green lights of oxygen and hydrogen, and the purples and pinks of nitrogen. The altitude and inclination of the Spacelab will give scientists unique views of auroras, which occur at altitudes ranging from about 90 to 300 kilometers (56 to 186 miles). Most views of the auroras have been from the ground where only limited parts can be seen. These Skylab views will give scientists information on the

ISS039-E-013581 (20 April 2014) --- This is one of an extensive series of still photos documenting the arrival and ultimate capture and berthing of the SpaceX CRS-3 Dragon at the International Space Station, as photographed by the Expedition 39 crew members onboard the orbital outpost. The spacecraft was captured by the space station and successfully berthed, following the April 20 arrival.

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.

The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 59 crewmembers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Friday March 15, 2019, Kazakh time (March 14 Eastern time) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hague, Koch, and Ovchinin will spend six-and-a-half months living and working aboard the International Space Station.

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ISS036-E-007619 (13 June 2013) --- To a crew member aboard the International Space Station, the home planet is seen from many different angles and perspectives, as evdenced by this Expedition 36 image of Earth's atmophere partially obscured by one of the orbital outpost's solar panels.

International Space Station (ISS) crew members were able to document a rare occurrence. The dark area near the center of the frame is actually a shadow cast by the moon during the total solar eclipse of December 4, 2002. The shadow obscures an area of cloud cover. The Station, with three Expedition Six crew members aboard, was over the Indian Ocean at the time of the eclipse.

iss063e054976 (July 23, 2020) --- The launch plume of Russia's Progress 76 (76P) resupply ship, after it blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, is pictured from the International Space Station. The 76P was packed with nearly three tons of food, fuel and supplies, and would dock to the station's Pirs docking compartment less than three-and-a-half hours later.

Latest Color View of Polar Landing Site

Many constellations over a wind turbine

AS12-47-6949 (19-20 Nov. 1969) --- A photograph of the Apollo 12 lunar landing site taken during the extravehicular activity (EVA) of astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., commander; and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot. The Apollo 12 Lunar Module (LM) is on the left. Barely visible in the center of the picture, in the shadows on the farside of the crater, is the Surveyor 3 spacecraft. The two spacecraft are about 600 feet apart. Conrad and Bean walked over to Surveyor 3 during their second EVA. The television camera and several other pieces were taken from Surveyor 3 and brought back to Earth for scientific examination. Astronaut Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit, while astronauts Conrad and Bean descended in the LM to explore the moon. The considerable glare in the picture is caused by the position of the sun. The Apollo tool carrier is the object next to the LM footpad.

Vapor trail of a rocket against blue sky

Rocket University - Balloon Launch at KARS 1

iss042e222241 (2/5/2015) --- Photographic documentation of the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-3 (J-SSOD-3) mission deploy of the CubeSat AESP-14 from Kibo. The satellite was developed by the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), with support from the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A rumble is heard along the Space Coast as the Falcon 9 rocket soars into the night sky from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the SpaceX CRS-4 mission to orbit. Liftoff was at 1:52 a.m. EDT.The mission is the fourth of 12 SpaceX flights NASA contracted with the company to resupply the space station. It will be the fifth trip by a Dragon spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory. The spacecrafts 2.5 tons of supplies, science experiments, and technology demonstrations include critical materials to support 255 science and research investigations that will occur during the station's Expeditions 41 and 42.

A UFO appearing at the 1984 Olympics

Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3).

European Space Agency's 'Jules Verne' Automated Transfer Vehicle ATV-1 re-entry in Earth's atmosphere over Pacific Ocean. The breakup ad fragmentation of the ESA's ATV-1 was captured in dramatic fashion by scientists aboard NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory and a Gulfstream V aircraft as it re-entered the atmosphere early Monday morning over the South Pacific.

ISS013-E-43034 (26 June 2006) --- Backdropped by the blackness of space, an unpiloted Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station. The Progress 22 resupply craft launched at 10:08 a.m. (CDT) on June 24, 2006 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, oxygen and other supplies to the Expedition 13 crewmembers onboard the station. Progress automatically docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment at 11:25 a.m. (CDT) on June 26 as the spacecraft and the station flew approximately 220 miles above a point near northern Africa.

HEROES PAYLOAD AWAITS LAUNCH AS HELIUM BALLOON INFLATES IN BACKGROUND, FORT SUMNER, NEW MEXICO, SEPTEMBER 21, 2013

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

NASAs Wallops Flight Facility supported the successful launch of three Terrier-Oriole suborbital rockets for the Department of Defense between 2 30 and 2 31 a.m. today, Feb. 24, from NASAs launch range on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The next launch from the Wallops Flight Facility is a NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket between 6 and 9 a.m. on March 27. The rocket will be carrying the Rocksat-X payload carrying university student developed experiments.

iss059e010180 (April 3, 2019) --- The aurora australis, also known as the "southern lights", is pictured as the International Space Station orbited 265 miles above the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia. Portions of the orbital complex can be seen including (from left) a pair of high-pressure gas tanks, solar arrays and the Soyuz MS-12 crew ship docked to the Rassvet module.

Project 30-35 - Operation Teapot (Nevada Test Site) Detonation. TURK fireball, aerial view (2 of 2). Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

The Dust and Ion Tails of Comet Hale-Bopp. In 1997, Comet Hale-Bopps intrinsic brightness exceeded any comet since 1811. Since it peaked on the other side of the Earths orbit, however, the comet appeared only brighter than any comet in two decades. Visible above are the two tails shed by Comet Hale-Bopp. The blue ion tail is composed of ionized gas molecules, of which carbon monoxide particularly glows blue when reacquiring electrons. This tail is created by the particles from the fast solar wind interacting with gas from the comets head. The blue ion tail points directly away from the Sun.

. iss069e036800 (July 24, 2023) -- Earth's atmosphere glows as the International Space Station soared roughly 260 miles above Egypt.

Night Earth Observations taken by Expedition 38 crewmember. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter.

Comet NEOWISE in a telephoto lens close-up.

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GMT342_23_09_Terry Virts_aurora london paris middle east night_CB_123

A modified Space Shuttle Main Engine is static fired at Marshall's Technology Test Bed.

This synthetic image of NASA's Spirit Mars Exploration Rover on top of a rock called 'Jibsheet' was produced using 'Virtual Presence in Space' technology.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Darkness shrouds space shuttle Endeavour as it touches down on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After 14 days in space, Endeavour's 5.7-million-mile STS-130 mission is completed on orbit 217. Main gear touchdown was at 10 20 31 p.m. EST followed by nose gear touchdown at 10 20 39 p.m. and wheels stop at 10 22 10 p.m. It was the 23rd night landing in shuttle history and the 17th at Kennedy. Aboard are Commander George Zamka; Pilot Terry Virts; and Mission Specialists Robert Behnken, Nicholas Patrick, Kathryn Hire and Stephen Robinson. During Endeavour's STS-130 mission, astronauts installed the Tranquility node, a module that provides additional room for crew members and many of the station's life support and environmental control systems. Attached to Tranquility is a cupola with seven windows that provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. The module was built in Turin, Italy,

Eastern Limb of Solar Eclipse

S134-E-006596 (18 May 2011) --- One of the STS-134 crew members aboard the space shuttle Endeavour recorded this image of the International Space Station (ISS), backdropped against the blackness of space, as the two spacecraft made their relative approach on May 18, 2011. Each spacecraft was occupied by six crew members until the STS-134 astronauts entered the ISS a short while after the docking.

ISS022-E-069118 (19 Feb. 2010) --- The space shuttle Endeavour is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 22 crew member on the International Space Station soon after the shuttle and station began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 7:54 p.m. (EST) on Feb. 19, 2010. Below the orbiter is the Tasman Sea coast of New South Wales, Australia from Mollymook to Tathra.

Curiosity Views Feather-Shaped Iridescent Cloud. 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. While most Martian clouds hover no more than 37 miles (60 kilometers) above the ground and are composed of water ice, these clouds appear to be higher in elevation, where it's very cold. That suggests these clouds are made of carbon dioxide, or dry ice. This scene made up of 28 individual images captured by the rover's Mast Camera, or Mastcam. The images have been processed to emphasize the highlights. https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25740

Close-Up of Sol 24 Sunset

The second manned lunar landing mission, Apollo 12, launched from launch pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14, 1969 via a Saturn V launch vehicle. The Saturn V vehicle was developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Aboard Apollo 12 was a crew of three astronauts Alan L. Bean, pilot of the Lunar Module (LM), Intrepid; Richard Gordon, pilot of the Command Module (CM), Yankee Clipper; and Spacecraft Commander Charles Conrad. The LM, Intrepid, landed astronauts Conrad and Bean on the lunar surface in whats known as the Ocean of Storms while astronaut Richard Gordon piloted the CM, Yankee Clipper, in a parking orbit around the Moon. Lunar soil activities included the deployment of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), finding the unmanned Surveyor 3 that landed on the Moon on April 19, 1967, and collecting 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of rock samples. This is the eleventh of 25 images captured by the

Mouse Embryo at Single Cell Stage and Polar Body. Date:

His restorer observing with the Father Josset's telescope

ISS045E002596 (09/14/2015) --- Expedition 45 commander Scott Kelly is seen peeking out of the space stations Cupola module which provides a 360-degree view of the Earth below. The module is also used for robotics operations, including controlling the stations main robotic device Canadarm2, seen below the Cupola.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Darkness shrouds space shuttle Endeavour as it touches down on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After 14 days in space, Endeavour's 5.7-million-mile STS-130 mission is completed on orbit 217. Main gear touchdown was at 10:20:31 p.m. EST followed by nose gear touchdown at 10:20:39 p.m. and wheels stop at 10:22:10 p.m. It was the 23rd night landing in shuttle history and the 17th at Kennedy. Aboard are Commander George Zamka; Pilot Terry Virts; and Mission Specialists Robert Behnken, Nicholas Patrick, Kathryn Hire and Stephen Robinson. During Endeavour's STS-130 mission, astronauts installed the Tranquility node, a module that provides additional room for crew members and many of the station's life support and environmental control systems. Attached to Tranquility is a cupola with seven windows that provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. The module was built in Turin, Italy,

ISS010-E-11990 (22 December 2004) --- Backdropped by a blanket of clouds, an unpiloted Progress 15 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station (ISS) at 1:37 pm (CST) on December 22, 2004, carrying its load of trash and unneeded equipment to be deorbited and burned up in Earths atmosphere. The undocking clears the way for the arrival of a new Progress 16, planned to launch December 23 and dock with the Station on December 25.

AS17-145-22287 (7-19 Dec. 1972) --- An oblique view of the large crater Copernicus on the lunar nearside, as photographed from the Apollo 17 spacecraft in lunar orbit. This view is looking generally southwest toward the crater on the horizon. The coordinates of the center of Copernicus are approximately 20 degrees west longitude and 9.5 degrees north latitude.

Art By Don Davis As the probes and the bus enter the Venusian atmosphere they glowed briefly like meteorites. The bus as shown in this artisit's rendering, was most spectacular because it did not carry a heat shield; as a result, it burned up completely.

Europe, Italy, Sicily, Mount Etna, On 17 July 2001, violent eruptions occured at the SE Crater (MR)

Atomic bomb, illustration

Artist's concept of the Sun rising over Valles Marineris on Mars.

STS-133 Discovery on Pad 39A with Winter Solstice Moon Eclipse - scrubbed Rollback to VAB

A line of geosats (geostationary communication satellites) as they flare in brightness near the equinoxes.

ISS041-E-013693 (13 Sept. 2014) --- Photographed with a mounted automated camera, this is one of a number of images featuring the European Space Agencys Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5 or Georges Lemaitre) docked with the International Space Station. Except for color changes, the images are almost identical. The variation in color from frame to frame is due to the cameras response to the motion of the orbital outpost, relative to the illumination from the sun.

Astronomical Telescope Starry night. Milky Way Galaxy

Comet Hale-Bopp, twenty minute exposure on the night of March 31, 1997 in the clear skies of Racetrack Valley, Death Valley National Park, California.

AS17-140-21355 (7-19 Dec. 1972) --- This picture of the lunar surface was taken from the window of the lunar module at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt were inside the lunar module preparing for the mission's third spacewalk. Tracks made by lunar roving vehicle (LRV) and the astronauts' bootprints from earlier spacewalks are seen in the foreground.

This illustration shows the seven TRAPPIST-1 planets as they might look as viewed from Earth using a fictional, incredibly powerful telescope. The sizes and relative positions are correctly to scale.

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