At 12:40 p.m. EST, Dec. 11, 2022, the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a 25.5-day mission to the Moon. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ksc-20221211-ph-jmb01-0001_orig.jpg
In this photo from Dec. 15, 1965, the Gemini-VII spacecraft is seen from the Gemini-VI-A spacecraft during their rendezvous mission in space. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/s65-63188_orig.jpg
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft onboard is seen as it rolls out to the pad, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, at Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/52562212346_054a94d321_o.jpg
Against an inky black backdrop, the blue swirls of barred spiral galaxy NGC 6956 stand out radiantly. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hubble_ngc6956.jpg
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A portion of the open cluster NGC 6530 appears as a roiling wall of smoke studded with stars in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hubble_ngc6530_potw2250a.jpg
The Moog Surefly vehicle hovers above Cincinnati Municipal Airport in this photo from summer 2022. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/grc-2022-c-04145.jpg
The lander's journey of discovery into the interior structure and composition of Mars has come to a close. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/_mars.nasa_.gov_insight-raw-images_surface_sol_1436_icc_c000m1436_724026383edr_f0000_0200m_1042.png
By taking a closer look at one of Webb’s first images, the iconic Cosmic Cliffs, scientists have found dozens of energetic jets and outflows from young stars previously hidden by dust clouds. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/stsci-01gkmkkhkk7hr64v5hgx4gms9k_0.png
Hawaii's big island and its two major volcanoes Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa rest under a partly cloudy sky on Feb. 8, 2022, in this view from the International Space Station. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/iss066e137869_orig.jpg
On Dec. 24, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders became the first humans to orbit the Moon, and the first to witness the magnificent sight called
The James Webb Space Telescope spies the spiral galaxy NGC 7469, located 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus, in this image released on Dec. 21, 2022. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/52577236876_109214e963_o.jpg
This image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft’s HIRISE instrument on Oct. 23, 2022, of the northern plains of Arabia Terra shows craters that contain curious deposits with mysterious shapes and distribution. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia25703_orig.jpg
An osprey is seen in front of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as launch preparations continued Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/52329096977_2d3bfc71c5_o.jpg
Support teams work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft shortly after it landed on Friday, May 6, 2022 with Crew-3 NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer aboard. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/52054927331_241db0ff59_o.jpg
On April 8, 2022, this 30-second exposure captured the International Space Station as it passed over the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/51991984485_c7806146ae_o.jpg
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft is in this early morning photo from Dec. 14, 2022, as preparations for launch continued. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/52563811575_3e75f081cc_o.jpg
The Artemis I Orion capsule is secured on a platform inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this image from Jan. 6, 2023. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ksc-20230106-ph-jbs01_0028_orig.jpg
NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio is all smiles as he observes the behavior of a free-flying water bubble inside the International Space Station's (ISS) Kibo laboratory module on Oct. 10, 2022. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/iss068e006386.jpeg
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthplace, Atlanta, Georgia, is seen on January 20, 2013, in this image from the International Space Station as it flew approximately 240 miles above the city. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/730353main_iss034e032466_full.jpg
Snoopy, the zero gravity indicator that flew aboard Orion during the Artemis I mission, wears a smile after being unpacked from his transport case on Jan. 5, 2023. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ksc-20230105-ph-ilw01_0023_orig.jpg