This photograph shows the first pass of Echo 1, America’s first communications satellite, over the Goldstone Tracking Station managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, in the early morning of Aug. 12, 1960. The movement of the antenna, star trails, and Echo 1 (the long streak in the middle) are visible in this image. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia21114_p1446b-1600x1200.jpg

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins is pictured inside of the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft while conducting routine spacesuit checks. The Expedition 49 trio of Rubins, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin are scheduled to undock their Soyuz on Saturday, Oct. 29, and land at 11:59 p.m. EDT. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/30428935312_c69b2ff100_o.jpg

The Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 49 crew members NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos, and astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 (Kazakh time). http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/nhq201610300010.jpg

This Halloween, take a tour with NASA's Exoplanet Exploration site of some of the most terrifying destinations in our galaxy. The nightmare world of HD 189733 b is the killer you never see coming. To the human eye, this far-off planet looks bright blue. But any space traveler confusing it with the friendly skies of Earth would be badly mistaken. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/heic1312a.jpg

A prototype of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) robotic capture module system is tested with a mock asteroid boulder in its clutches at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The robotic portion of ARM is targeted for launch in 2021. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/arm-prototype.jpg

The primary mirror of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope that consists of 18 hexagonal mirrors looks like a giant puzzle piece standing in the massive clean room of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The telescope will help piece together puzzles scientists have been trying to solve throughout the cosmos. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/otispostcocrev2.jpg

U.S. Navy divers and other personnel in a rigid hull Zodiac boat have attached tether lines to a test version of the Orion crew module during Underway Recovery Test 5 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. NASA and the U.S. Navy are conducting a series of tests to practice for recovery of Orion on its return from deep space missions. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/30660444486_d4a4e649d8_o.jpg

NGC 299 is an open star cluster located within the Small Magellanic Cloud just under 200,000 light-years away. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/potw1642a.jpg

This view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft showcases some of the amazingly detailed structure of Saturn's rings. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia20506-1041.jpg

Thanks to a bill passed by Texas legislators that put in place technical voting procedure for astronauts, they have the ability to vote from space through specially designed absentee ballots. To preserve the integrity of the secret vote, the ballot is encrypted and only accessible by the astronaut and the county clerk responsible for casting it. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/iss045e105414.jpg

The distinctively fluted surface and elongated hills in this image in Medusae Fossae are caused by wind erosion of a soft fine-grained rock. Called yardangs, these features are aligned with the prevailing wind direction. This wind direction would have dominated for a very long time to carve these large-scale features into the exposed rock. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/esp_046504_1785.jpg

As scientists and crew with NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission prepared for a research flight on Nov. 5, 2016, the weather in Punta Arenas, Chile, was cold, wet, and windy. But when they reached their survey site in West Antarctica, skies were clear and winds were calm—a perfect day for scientists to collect data over the Getz Ice Shelf. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/getz_photo_2016310_lrg.jpg

The moon, or supermoon, is seen rising behind the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad in Kazakhstan, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station at 3:20 p.m. EST Nov. 17. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/30678128460_542587097d_o.jpg

Following the Gemini XII splashdown on Nov. 15, 1966, astronauts Buzz Aldrin, left, and Jim Lovell are welcomed aboard the recovery aircraft carrier, USS Wasp, concluding their four-day mission. Gemini XII was the final flight of the Gemini program, a bridge between the Mercury and Apollo programs. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/12-gemini_12_recovery-23jpg.jpg

Flying over the Philippine Sea, an astronaut looked toward the horizon from the International Space Station and shot this photograph of three-dimensional clouds, the thin blue envelope of the atmosphere, and the blackness of space. The late afternoon sunlight brightens a broad swath of the sea surface on the right side of the image. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/iss048e010018_lrg_0.jpg

Expedition 50 crewmembers ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, top, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, middle, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft for launch Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, (Kazakh Time) in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/nhq201611170001.jpg

In this one second exposure photograph, the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft is seen launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Expedition 50 crewmembers NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, Kazakh time (Nov 17 EST). http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/31068115625_9b0dd3bcba_o.jpg

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and its GOES-R payload at the launchpad as preparations continue for launch at 5:42 p.m. EST, Saturday, Nov. 19, from Space Launch Complex 41. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ksc-20161118-ph_jbs01_0112.jpg

Surface features are visible on Saturn's moon Prometheus in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia20508-1041.jpg

Spiral galaxy NGC 3274 is a relatively faint galaxy located over 20 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo (The Lion). http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/potw1647a.jpg