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

A high fidelity test version of NASA’s Advanced Plant Habitat (APH), the largest plant chamber built for the agency, arrived at Kennedy Space Center the third week of November, 2016. The APH unit, containing small flowering plant seeds, will be delivered to the International Space Station in 2017. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/30795688500_ed64d9f74b_o.jpg

The six Expedition 50 crew members celebrate Thanksgiving in space, Nov. 24, 2016, with rehydrated turkey, stuffing, potatoes and vegetables. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/cydlkybweaewesk.jpg_orig.jpeg

Saturn's icy moon Mimas is dwarfed by the planet's enormous rings. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia20509-1041.jpg

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station photographed a sunset that looks like a vast sheet of flame. With Earth’s surface already in darkness, the setting sun, the cloud masses, and the sideways viewing angle make a powerful image of the kind that astronauts use to commemorate their flights. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/iss049e049442_lrg.jpg

On Nov. 10, 2016, scientists on NASA's IceBridge mission photographed an oblique view of a massive rift in the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen C ice shelf. Icebridge, an airborne survey of polar ice, completed an eighth consecutive Antarctic deployment on Nov. 18. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/cxaovzcwqaa0nll.jpg

The moon Hyperion tumbles as it orbits Saturn. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia20512-1041x398.jpg

Middle school students programmed a camera aboard the International Space Station -- the Sally Ride EarthKAM -- to photograph this portion of the Sahara desert in western Libya on October 3, 2016. The Expedition 50 crew set up the EarthKAM gear in the Harmony module’s Earth-facing hatch window, to allow students to photograph targets on Earth. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ccfid_113386_2016277154705_image.jpg