

In the heart of the Rosette Nebula lies a bright open cluster of stars that lights up the nebula. The stars of NGC 2244 formed from the surrounding gas only a few million years ago. This image taken by the CFHT's new MegaPrime camera shows the region in unprecedented detail. Although the emission nebula is dominated by red hydrogen light, the above image has exaggerated the effect of green light emitted primarily by small amounts of oxygen .
Astronaut Steven L. Smith, payload commander, retrieves a power tool while standing on the mobile foot restraint at the end of the remote manipulator system. Many of the tools required to service the Hubble Space Telescope are stored on the handrail attached to the RMS visible in the photograph.
Waves of clouds along the east flanks of the Andes Mountains cast off an orange glow by the low angle of the sun in the West. The dark area to the left is the Earth's terminator. This view was photographed by astronaut Frank Borman and James A. Lovell during the Gemini 7 mission, looking South from Northern Bolivia across the Andes in December 1965.
This 1977 concept drawing for a space station is known as the 'spider' concept. The main engine tank would be used as a space operations control center, a Shuttle astronaut crew habitat, and a space operations focal point for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Europa, a moon of Jupiter, appears as a thick crescent in this enhanced-color image from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 1995. The view combines images taken in violet, green and near-infrared filters in 1998 and 1995. The colors have been stretched to show the subtle differences in materials that cover the icy surface of Europa. Reddish linear features are some of the cracks and ridges, thousands of miles long, which are caused by the tides raised by the gravitational pull of Jupiter.
Astronaut Jerry L. Ross, anchored to the foot restraint on the Remote Manipulator System, approaches the tower-like Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures device. The structure was just deployed by Ross and astronaut Sherwood Spring as the Atlantis orbits Earth.
Astronomers have discovered a planetary system more similar to our own Solar System than any known previously. The bright star HD70642, visible with binoculars toward the constellation of Puppis, was already known to be a star like our Sun. Now a planet with twice Jupiter's mass has been discovered in a nearly circular orbit at approximately half the orbital distance of Jupiter. Such an orbit allows the possibility of habitable Earth-type planets orbiting further in, a possibility not likely with all previously discovered planetary systems with massive planets occupying disruptive, closer elliptical orbits.
This demonstration of new sizing techniques for the AX-5 hard space suit shows the suit adjusted to accommodate an Astronaut's small size. The hardsuit, while maintaining mobility, offers the astronaut greater protection from debris, micrometerorite penetration, radiation, and thermal loads during EVA operations.
This Gemini spacecraft was supported in a gimbal system by an overhead crane and gantry arrangement which provided 6 degrees of freedom - roll, pitch, yaw, and translation in any direction - all controllable by the astronaut in the spacecraft. This multiple exposure of the Rendezvous Docking Simulator was taken in 1964.
Space shuttle Atlantis is seen on Launch Pad 39a of the NASA Kennedy Space Center shortly after the rotating service structure was rolled back, on Nov. 15, 2009.
This coronagraph of Sun was recorded by the Solar Maximum Mission Satellite in 1980 prior to experiencing problems that restricted its operations.