On Dec. 21, 1968, the Apollo 8 crew leaves the Kennedy Space Center's then-named Manned Spacecraft Operations Building during the mission's prelaunch countdown on the way to their history-making lunar orbiting flight. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/s68-55999.jpg

The Hubble Space Telescope captured what looks like a colorful holiday ornament in space. It's actually an image of NGC 6326, a planetary nebula with glowing wisps of outpouring gas. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/potw1010a_0.jpg

These images show a subtle feature on dwarf planet Ceres called Kwanzaa Tholus. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/tholus.jpg

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photograph of the city lights of Naples and the Campania region of southern Italy. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/naples.jpg

In September 2017, a new iceberg calved from Pine Island Glacier—one of the main outlets where the West Antarctic Ice Sheet flows into the ocean. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pineisland_oli_2017349_lrg.jpg

THE OSIRIS-REx mission will map and return samples from asteroid Bennu, a carbon-rich hunk of rock that might contain organic materials or molecular precursors to life. OSIRIS-Rex is expected to reach Bennu in August, 2018. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/full_1024x1024.png

On Jan. 3, 1962, the newly announced Mercury Mark II project was renamed Project Gemini. This artist's concept of a two-person Gemini spacecraft in flight shows a cutaway view. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/s65-14257.jpg

This Geocolor image from NOAA's GOES-16 satellite captures the deepening storm off the East coast of the United States on Jan. 4, 2018, at 16:22 UTC. The powerful nor'easter is battering coastal areas with heavy snow and strong winds, from Florida to Maine. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/20180041622_goes16-abi-conus-geocolor-5000x3000.jpg

Millions of people along the East Coast of the United States faced snow and ice, gusty winds, power outages, travel delays, school closings, and flooding as a rapidly-intensifying Nor’easter plowed northward during the first week of 2018. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/eastcoast_vir_2018004_lrg.jpg

Saturn’s rings, made of countless icy particles, form a translucent veil in this view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia21901-1041.jpg

On Jan. 9, 1969, NASA announced the prime crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. This portrait was taken on Jan. 10, the day after the announcement of the crew assignment. From left to right are lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, commander Neil Armstrong; and command module pilot Michael Collins. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/31419815333_7aaa95bef0_o.jpg

A new analysis of about 10,000 normal Sun-like stars in the Milky Way's galactic bulge reveals that our galaxy's hub is a dynamic environment. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/img1_0.png

Colorful swirling cloud belts dominate Jupiter’s southern hemisphere in this image captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia21974.jpg

On January 16, 1978, NASA announces the first astronaut class in nine years, which included the first African Americans. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/s79-36529.jpg

For the second time in three years, snow has accumulated in the desert near the northern Algerian town of Aïn Séfra. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ainsefra_oli_2018008_oblique_lrg_1.jpg

This image of Jupiter’s swirling south polar region was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it neared completion of its tenth close flyby of the gas giant planet. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia21975-opt.jpg

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the Parker Solar Probe is lowered into the 40-foot-tall thermal vacuum chamber. The thermal vacuum chamber simulates the harsh conditions that the spacecraft will experience on its journey through space, including near-vacuum conditions and severe hot and cold temperatures. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/5d1_6772.jpg

Ships churning through the Atlantic Ocean produced this patchwork of bright, criss-crossing cloud trails off the coast of Portugal and Spain. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/atlantic_amo_2018016_lrg.jpg

This image shows NASA's InSight lander after it was commanded to deploy its solar arrays to test and verify the exact process that it will use on the surface of the Red Planet. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia22204.jpg

On the last Thursday in January, NASA pays tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, as well as other NASA colleagues who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/39185734754_303823b519_o_1.jpg