史诗般恢弘巨制：大西洋焦点月刊—太阳系旅行记

（注：由于要查询资料和加入讲解科学知识，翻译需要一些时间）
来源：《大西洋月刊焦点》
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/05/a-trip-around-our-solar-system/100075/
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/03/a-trip-across-the-solar-system/100258/
另外，很多图片是动画演示的，非常震撼和精彩，因此需要设置好浏览器的动画功能。

Robotic probes launched by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and others are gathering information for us right now all across the solar system. We currently have spacecraft in orbit around the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Saturn; several others on their way to smaller bodies; and a few on their way out of the solar system entirely. On Mars, a rover called Spirit has just been officially left for dead, after two years of radio silence from it -- but its twin, Opportunity, continues on its mission, now more than 2,500 days beyond its originally planned 90-days. With all these eyes in the sky, I'd like to take the opportunity to put together a photo album of our Solar system -- a set of family portraits, of sorts -- as seen by our astronauts and mechanical emissaries. [38 photos]

NASA和ESA等空间研究管理机构发射了数十颗宇宙探测器，正在太阳系旅行并不断发送回珍贵的信息，我们也因此对太阳系愈发了解。对NASA或ESA关于水星、地球、月亮、火星、土星等的探测器获得的大量资料进行整理，集中展示，是非常有意义和有意思的事情。

                               
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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite captures an image of the Earth's moon crossing in front of the Sun, on May 3, 2011. (NASA/GSFC/SDO)
2011年5月3日，太阳动力学天文台（Solar Dynamics Observatory，简称SDO）观测到月球正从太阳与地球之间穿越，形成日食。
SDO探测器于2010年2月9日从佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心发射，SDO目标是探测太阳的变化性，它将比之前的任务更快、更深入且更详细地观测太阳，打破时标以及清晰度的壁垒，正是这二者长期阻碍了太阳物理学的进步
太阳动力学天文台，是美国宇航局（NASA）新发射的太阳观测卫星太阳动力学天文台（SDO），运行在36000千米的地球同步轨道，运行寿命为五年，它搭载了三部研究太阳的仪器，能够不间断地对太阳进行观测，照片的清晰度是一台高清电视的10倍，它们是迄今获得的最为震撼的太阳照片，虽然太阳是我们生活中最常见到的星体，但人类还从来没有如此细致地看到过太阳表面的活动。

                               
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When a rather large-sized (M 3.6 class) flare occurred near the edge of the Sun, it blew out a gorgeous, waving mass of erupting plasma that swirled and twisted over a 90-minute period on February 24, 2011. This event was captured in extreme ultraviolet light by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft . Some of the material blew out into space and other portions fell back to the surface. (NASA/GSFC/SDO) #

                               
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SDO视频：2011年2月24日，大级别的3.6级的耀斑爆发和日冕喷射而出动态演示（看不见动画的需要设置好浏览器的动画功能）。

                               
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A closeup of the solar surface. Part of the largest sunspot in Active Region 10030 recorded on July 15, 2002, with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope on La Palma. The width of the cells near the top of the image are roughly 1,000 km. The central part of the sunspot ("the umbra") looks dark because the strong magnetic fields there stop upwelling hot gas from the solar interior. The thread-like structures surrounding the umbra make up the penumbra. Dark cores are clearly visible in some of the bright penumbral filaments that stick out into
近距离观测太阳表面的黑子。太阳黑子是太阳表面温度较低的区域，比其他的区域要暗，温度在3600°C左右。在太阳黑子周围像马克赛一样的小细胞叫做粒状斑（温度约为 5800 ° C）。这些粒状斑的平均直径为1000千米，由太阳内部上升的高温气体组成。这是瑞典La Palma新建的太阳望远镜（Swedish Solar Telescope，SST）仔细观测并拍摄的图片。

                               
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A view of the Sun on March 7, 2012, seen in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Looping lines reveal solar plasma that is rising and falling along magnetic field lines in the solar atmosphere, or corona. The brighter prominence at upper left is named solar active region 1429, which has already released several large solar flares, some accompanied by large explosions of solar plasma known as coronal mass ejections. (NASA/SDO)
2012年3月7日，SDO拍摄的太阳图片，循环线显示了太阳等离子体在磁场作用下在太阳大气层和日冕升起降落吗，明亮区域是太阳活动频繁之处，常常伴随有大量的日冕物质抛射（coronal mass ejection）。

                               
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An animated image of the Sun, showing a large solar flare erupting on March 5, 2012, launching a coronal mass ejection into space. (NASA/ESA) #

                               
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2012年3月5日的太阳耀斑爆发动态演示，伴有日冕物质抛射

                               
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Comet Lovejoy approaches the sun (left side), interacting the with the sun's corona which is several million degrees, and re-emerges at right, after passing closely by the far side of the Sun. Comet Lovejoy survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the sun on December 15, 2011. The comet, which was only discovered a couple of weeks before, was supposed to melt as it came so close to the sun that the temperatures around it would hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived. (AP Photo/NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory) #

                               
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2011年12月15日，“洛夫乔伊”彗星（Comet Lovejoy，左图）与太阳“亲密接触”后幸存下来的壮观瞬间。

                               
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NASA's SOHO satellite watched as a fairly bright comet dove towards the Sun in a white streak and was not seen again after its close encounter on May 10-11, 2011. In this coronagraph the Sun (represented by a white circle) is blocked by the red occulting disk so that the faint structures in the Sun's corona can be discerned. Interestingly, a coronal mass ejection blasted out to the right just as the comet is approaching the Sun. Scientists, however, have yet to find a convincing physical connection between sun-grazing comets and coronal mass ejections. In fact, analysis of this CME using images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows that the CME erupted before the comet came close enough to the solar surface to interact with strong magnetic fields. (NASA/SOHO) #

                               
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NASA's 日光层观测站(SOHO)卫星（Solar and Heliospheric Observatory，SOHO) 拍摄到的彗星冲向太阳的场面动态演示。

                               
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Massive magnetic loops dance across the surface of the Sun in this animation from November 29, 2010. (NASA/GSFC/SDO) #

                               
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巨大的”“ 磁场舞蹈”动态演示

                               
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On Oct. 6, 2008, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully completed its second flyby of Mercury. The next day, the images taken during the flyby encounter began to be received back on Earth. The spectacular image shown here is one of the first to be returned and shows a WAC image of the departing planet taken about 90 minutes after the spacecraft's closest approach to Mercury. The bright crater just south of the center of the image is Kuiper, identified on images from the Mariner 10 mission in the 1970s. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington) #

                               
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http://www.ufo-1.cn/baidu/Explore-found/420/
图中明亮的白点是信使号探测器拍摄的水星柯伊伯撞击坑（Kuiper），这是水星上一个中等大小的撞击坑，位于 11 S, 31.5 W。直径约 60 公里，名字由来于美国天文学家杰拉德·柯伊伯。该撞击坑的反照率是水星上最高，因此它可能是水星上最年轻的撞击坑之一。柯伊伯撞击坑位于更大的撞击坑紫式部撞击坑北方边缘处
2008年10月6日的这次飞越已经是信使号探测器第二次接近水星表面。约翰·霍普金斯大学应用物理实验室的信使号任务科学家（Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory）拉尔夫·麦克纳特(Ralph McNutt)8日表示：“飞越水星赤道附近区域是此次探测器所执行的空间任务的一部分。 这些照片正是探测器在深入该区域附近地表以下124英里所拍摄到的。首张发回地球的照片清晰地显示了水星表面上新发现的一些峭壁。而大量的数据有望在今天发回地球。就目前而言，探测器正在按照预定计划执行任务。”
　　信使号探测器在最终进入水星轨道运行之前，总共将三次飞越水星，预计2009年9月返回。第一次飞越是在今年1月14日。当2011年3月探测器最终进入水星轨道时，将成为首颗围绕这颗行星运转的探测器。1974年，宇宙飞船首次接近水星。1795年，美国宇航局的水手10号(Mariner 10)宇宙飞船连续三次飞越水星，并且拍摄到了水星表面45%的区域。今年一月，信使号探测器描绘出了另外20%的区域。在此次飞越中，信使号探测器又拍摄到了30%的区域。麦克纳特表示：“综合今年1月和此次收集到的数据能够让科学家对水星的地表特征有一个非常清楚的了解。在此次飞越中，探测器总共拍摄到了大约1200张照片。从今年一月飞越所发回的图片来看，水星的地表基本上是火山的活动所造成的，并且星球萎缩的速度也大大快于人们的预期。”华盛顿卡内基研究院的“信使”号首席研究员肖恩·索罗门也表示：“整理这些数据，并将它们进行对比后，我们将第一次拥有水星的全球景观图。”
柯伊伯撞击坑资料
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Kuiper_crater_CN0131774036M.png

                               
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A mosaic from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft of Mercury's Spitteler and Holberg craters, seen on March, 30, 2011 (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington) #

                               
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信使号拍摄的水星Spitteler and Holberg 陨石坑

                               
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MESSENGER views Mercury's south pole and terminator from an altitude of 10,240 km (6363 miles). The surface temperature in the upper part of this image, bathed in light from the nearby Sun, is about 700 Kelvin (430 °C, 800 °F). In the lower, unlit portion, temperatures can quickly drop drastically to 110 Kelvin (-163 °C, -261 °F) some parts of the poles never receive sunlight and remain at 90 Kelvin (-183 °C. -297 °F). (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington) #

                               
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信使号拍摄的水星南极。上半部分沐浴在太阳阳光下，温度约摄氏430度，下半部更低一些的地方温度急剧下跌到零下摄氏183度。

                               
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A view of The second planet from the Sun, Venus, as seen on June 5, 2007 as NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flew past. Thick clouds of sulfuric acid obscures the planet's surface completely, reflecting some sunlight back into space, while trapping heat below in a 460 °C (860 °F) greenhouse. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington) #

                               
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信使号拍摄的金星，厚厚的云层完全遮挡住了这个星球的面目并把阳光反射回宇宙空间，形成了摄氏460度的温室效应。

                               
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Above the Earth's moon now, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter(LRO) captured this oblique view of Aitken crater, including the central peak and northern walls. The Scene is about 30 km wide (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University) #

                               
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NASA的月球勘测轨道飞行器(Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter， LRO）关于太阳系中已知的最大的撞击形状，即月球的南极艾肯环形山照片，图景是中央的高山和北面的山墙。

                               
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A patchwork of material makes up the fresh ejecta blanket of an unnamed 1 km diameter crater on the Moon, seen by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, on April 21, 2011. (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)#

                               
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LRO拍摄的月球无名环形山令人眼花缭乱的撞击溅射物质。

                               
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A recent view of the Apollo 14 landing site -- acquired January 25, 2011 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Tracks made 40 years ago by NASA astronauts on February 5 and 6, 1971, are still visible, undisturbed. The descent stage of lunar module Antares in center, image width is 1,500 meters (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University) #

                               
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1971年2月5日和6日阿波罗14号的着陆点仍然清晰可见，2011年1月25日有NASA的LRO拍摄，
参考资料：http://it.sohu.com/20090720/n265349113.shtml
       前一段日本月亮女神巡视月球，宣称并未发现美国阿波罗系列登月舱的痕迹，于是质疑美国登月计划的言论再次甚嚣尘上。近日美国航空航天局(NASA)特意公布了一组照片，首次直接近距离展示了阿波罗登月地点附近的情况，谣言不攻自破。　
       这些照片来自NASA的月球勘测轨道器(LRO)，这也是美国“重返月球”战略计划的第一步。该探测器载有七个科学仪器，于6月18日搭乘宇宙神V 401火箭发射升空，23日到达月球轨道，7月11-15日开始利用携带的月球勘测轨道器相机(LROC)捕捉阿波罗登陆点，很快就拍到了六个中的五个，分别是阿波罗11/14/15/16/17号，剩下的阿波罗12号将在未来几天内找到(阿波罗13号中途返回未登月)。
　　LRO目前尚未进入最终绘图轨道(下个月转入高度31英里的近月轨道执行主要任务)，因此拍摄照片的分辨率不是太高，距离阿波罗登月舱最近也有250多米，再加上登月舱的最大直径也就12英尺(3.65米)，所以在照片上只有9个像素。好在拍摄时机不错，赶上太阳照射角度很低，因此能清楚地看到登月舱投下的长长阴影，大约占20个像素。
　　其中阿波罗14号登月点的光照条件最好，甚至让我们看到了宇航员的足迹、放置的科学仪器等更多细节。
　　当然，LRO的目标绝不是澄清谣言这么简单。NASA称，这批细节照片能帮助他们为今后的探测任务找到安全的着陆点，并展示新技术、定位潜在资源、探明月球辐射环境。
　　下边先用原始照片考验一下大家的眼力，诸位试试看能不能直接找到登月舱(注意影子就行)，然后对比一下后边的指示图。

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首次登月的阿波罗11号登月舱“鹰”(Eagle)——282米(925英尺)

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阿波罗15号登月舱“猎鹰”(Falcon)——384米(1260英尺)

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阿波罗16号登月舱“猎户座”(Orion)——256米(840英尺)

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最后一次登月的阿波罗17号登月舱“挑战者”(Challenger)——359米(1178英尺)

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阿波罗14号登月舱“心大星”(Antares/天蝎座α星)——538米(1765英尺)

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阿波罗11号

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阿波罗15号

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阿波罗16号

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阿波罗17号

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阿波罗14号

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　　                  阿波罗14号细节照(比例尺100米，从左至右依次是科学仪器、宇航员足迹、登月舱、登月舱阴影)

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阿波罗登月点示意图

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第二位登月者巴兹·阿尔德林在阿波罗11号登月舱前

                                                                              阿波罗登月地点示意大图

                               
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This detailed, photo-like view of Earth is based largely on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. This image focuses on the massive Pacific Ocean, part of the important water ecosystem that covers 75% of our home planet. This image was featured as part of a story on water at NASA's Earth Observatory. (NASA/Robert Simmon and Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, based on MODIS data)#

                               
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太空中看地球太平洋上空

                               
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The Earth's moon, distorted heavily by layers of atmosphere, sets above the Indian Ocean, as seen by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on April 17, 2011. (NASA)#

                               
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国际空间站拍摄的月球照片，因印度洋上空大气层的原因而扭曲

                               
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A panoramic view across central South America at sunset, looking towards the northeast, as seen by an astronaut aboard the ISS on April 12, 2011. (NASA) #

                               
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国际空间站拍摄的中南美洲落日照亮云层和大气层的景象

                               
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On October 28, 2010, astronauts aboard the ISS gazed down on the Earth at night and captured this scene, with Brussels, Paris, and Milan brightly lit. (NASA)#

                               
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空间站拍摄的欧洲夜景

                               
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Snowfall across 30 U.S. States last February shows snow from the Great Plains to New England under the cold and clear skies that followed. The storms made for a nice snowy satellite-view panorama in this February 3, 2011 GOES-13 satellite image captured at (11:45 a.m. EST). (NOAA/NASA GOES Project)#

                               
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卫星拍摄的北美五大湖区域下雪的图

                               
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The first quarter Moon and the Aurora Australis appear above the Earth, as seen by astronauts aboard the ISS on September 14, 2010. (NASA)#

                               
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空间站上看到的上玄月和北极光

                               
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South Georgia is an arc-shaped island that lies some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of the southern tip of South America. Along South Georgia's east coast, Neumayer Glacier snakes toward the ocean. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image of the glacier on January 4, 2009. (NASA EO-1 team)#

                               
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大西洋南部接近南极洲的南乔治亚岛上的冰川正缓缓流入大海

                               
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NASA space physicist James Spann took this picture at Poker Flats, Alaska, where he was attending a scientific conference to study auroras on March 1, 2011. (NASA/GSFC/James Spann)#

                               
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NASA空间物理学家詹姆士.斯潘拍摄的阿拉斯加北极光

                               
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An astronaut's view of a sunrise, viewed through the cupola window of the ISS on November 26th, 2010. (NASA)#

                               
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通过空间站窗户看到的日出

                               
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On to Mars next - this image shows a remarkable double crater with a shared rim and North-South trending ejecta deposits. These two craters must have formed simultaneously. Image acquired in February, 2011 by NASA's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), a camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)#

                               
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美国火星勘测轨道飞行器(Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO)的高清晰科学实验成像仪（HRISE）拍摄的火星环形山，奇妙之处在于这两个环形山或陨石坑是同时形成的，其中两个环形山共有一个边

                               
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A land formation covered by drifting sand on Mars' surface, in a crater in Sinus Sabaeus Region. Image acquired on April 1, 2011 by NASA's HiRISE camera. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)#

                               
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火星探测轨道器上MRO的高清晰科学实验成像仪（HRISE)拍摄的火星表面沙地图，恍如地球沙漠地区

                               
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HiRISE peers down on Mars Rover Opportunity as it sits perched on the edge of Santa Maria crater (visible as dark dot at top left of crater). Opportunity's tracks can be seen faintly across the center, leading to the right. This image was taken on March 1, 2011, after Opportunity had spent several days studying the area. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona) #

                               
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火星探测轨道器上MRO的高清晰科学实验成像仪（HRISE)拍摄的机遇号火星车（上图环形山左边的小黑点），机遇号火星车的轨迹（右边这条线）清晰可见

                               
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Mars Rover Opportunity looks across the surface of the planet, a small crater nearby, in this mosaic of images acquired in May of 2011. (NASA/JPL)#

                               
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机遇号火星车回顾火星恍如贴满马赛克的表面

                               
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An area of Mars' Holden Crater, one of four candidate landing sites for Curiosity, acquired on January 4, 2011. NASA is still deciding on the final landing area for the next rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, named Curiosity, scheduled to launch on November 25, 2011 and land on Mars on August 6, 2012. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)#

                               
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火星的Holden环形山（Holden Crater）地区景象，这是好奇号火星车拟着陆的四个点之一

                               
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This March 31, 2011 image of Mars rover Spirit shows it in it's final resting spot. Sunlight glints off its surface, as it sits stuck in loose sand, trapped for two years now. Over a year ago, its radio stopped functioning, and just last Wednesday, may 25th, NASA engineers sent their final signal to Spirit, hoping for a response, and receiving none. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona) #

                               
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至2011年3月31日，“机遇”号火星车仍然陷在火星表面的一个柔软的沙堆上动弹不得，阳光照耀下，机遇号熠熠生辉

                               
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A close-up view of comet Hartley 2, taken as NASA's EPOXI mission approached the comet on November 4, 2010. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD)#

                               
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维基百科：哈特雷二號彗星，正式名称为103P/Hartley，是一颗周期为6.46年的短周期彗星，1986年由马尔科姆·哈特雷在澳大利亚赛丁泉天文台的施密特望远镜单元发现。它的直径约为1.2 到1.6 km。2010年11月4日，它被深度撞击号宇宙飞船所飞掠过，它们之间的最近距离不到700km。这是EPOXI任务的一个组成部分。
哈特雷二号彗星将在2017年4月20日前后回归。哈特雷二號彗星正在缓慢蒸发，预计在1000年内可能会完全消失。

                               
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This image shows the first, unprocessed image obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft of it's target, the giant asteroid Vesta. It was obtained by Dawn's framing camera on May 3, 2011, from a distance of about 1.2 million kilometers (750,000 miles). Vesta is inside the white glow at the center of the image. The giant asteroid reflects so much sunlight that its size is dramatically exaggerated at this exposure. Vesta is 330 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter and the second most massive object in the asteroid belt. But, in Dawn's early approach images, Vesta only appears approximately five pixels across in size. This and other images help Dawn fine tune navigation during its approach to Vesta, with arrival expected on July 16, 2011. (NASA/JPL)#

                               
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120万公里之外拍摄的灶神星正在反射太阳光，熠熠生辉的灶神星显得尺寸很大，其实际直径为530公里。

                               
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An image of Jupiter, seen by NASA's Hubble telescope on July 23, 2009, after a comet or asteroid recenetly plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated.(NASA, ESA, Space Telescope Science Institute, Jupiter Impact Team)#

                               
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木星

                               
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Outward to Saturn now, this image taken by NASA's Cassini Orbiter on April 25, 2011, shows several of Saturn's moons aligned along its rings, with Saturn's dark side taking up the left third of the image. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) #

                               
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A close view of Saturn's small moon Helene during a Cassini flyby on March 3, 2010. Saturn's atmosphere makes up the background of this composition. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Helene (33 kilometers, 21 miles across). (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) #

                               
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Small water ice particles fly from fissures in the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus in this image taken during the Aug. 13, 2010, flyby of the moon by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)#

                               
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Vertical structures, among the tallest seen in Saturn's main rings, rise abruptly from the edge of Saturn's B ring to cast long shadows on the ring in this image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft two weeks before the planet's August 2009 equinox. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)#

                               
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Cassini looks toward the dark side of Saturn's largest moon and captures the halo-like ring produced by sunlight scattering through the periphery of Titan's atmosphere. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)#

                               
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Saturn's icy moon Enceladus appears in this Cassini image, Saturn and its rings in the background. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)#

                               
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Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus pass high above the rings and surface of the planet below, in this image taken by Cassini on May 21, 2011. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)#

                               
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38
The shadows of Saturn's rings cast onto the massive planet appear as a thin band at the equator in this image taken as the planet approached its August 2009 equinox. (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)#

                               
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Dynamics Observatory) #

                               
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4
A partial solar eclipse, as seen from space, on Tuesday February 21, 2012, when the Moon moved in between NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite and the Sun, on February 22, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA) #

                               
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5
On December 05, 2011, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, in orbit around the planet Mercury, sent back this image of the central peaks of Eminescu Crater. Eminescu crater is 125 kilometers (78 miles) in diameter, and was only recently named - in honor of Mihai Eminescu, an accomplished and influential poet who is still considered the national poet of Romania. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington) #

                               
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6
This NASA radar image shows asteroid 2005 YU55, as the 400m (1,300ft) diameter space rock passed by at 3.6 lunar distances from Earth, (about 860,000 miles, or 1.38 million kilometers), near it's closest approach on November 7, 2011. Scientists will be watching for the return of 2005 YU55, due for close flybys in 2041, and again in 2075. (Reuters/NASA/JPL-Caltech) #

                               
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7
The International Space Station (top left) flies past the moon, as seen from Houston, Texas, on January 4, 2012. The station was flying in an orbit at 390 km (242 miles) with six astronauts aboard. (Reuters/Lauren Harnett/NASA) #

                               
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8
On the Moon, the Apollo 15 landing site, imaged from an altitude of 25 km by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on November 6, 2011. Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo space program, and the fourth to land on the Moon on July 30, 1971. Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin spent three days on the Moon, including lots of time in LRV-1, the first Lunar Rover, which they drove across 17.25 miles (27.76 km) of lunar surface. In this image, the descent stage of Apollo 15 is just right of center, the white spot with a surrounding shadow. Dark tracks to the right lead to the LRV-1, left parked on the moon. The trail of astronaut footprints at center-left surround the ALSEP experiments package. If you look closely at the left edge, you can see rover tracks leading off toward Hadley Rille, some 2km beyond. (NASA) #

                               
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The moon disappears behind the Earth, seen distorted through the Earth's atmosphere from the International Space Station, on January 9, 2012. (NASA) #

                               
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Nighttime view from the International Space Station shows the Atlantic coast of the United States in this image dated February 6, 2012. Metropolitan areas from the Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C., area are visible in the image that spans almost to Rhode Island. Boston is just out of frame at right. Long Island and the New York City area are visible in the lower right quadrant. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are near the center. Parts of two Russian vehicles parked at the orbital outpost are seen in left foreground. (Reuters/NASA) #

                               
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European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, enjoys the view of Earth from the windows in the Cupola of the International Space Station, on December 24, 2011. (NASA) #

                               
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Russian support personnel arrive to help meet the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft shortly after the capsule landed with International Space Station Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, and Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa outside of the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on November 22, 2011. Fossum, Volkov and Furukawa were returning from more than five months aboard the ISS. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images) #

                               
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Russian support personnel work to help get Expedition 29 crew members out of the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft shortly after the capsule landed outside of the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on November 22, 2011. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images) #

                               
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A Delta II rocket launches with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft payload from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, on October 28, 2011, outside of Lompoc, California. NPP is the first NASA satellite mission to address the challenge of acquiring a wide range of land, ocean, and atmospheric measurements for Earth system science while simultaneously preparing to address operational requirements for weather forecasting. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images) #

                               
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An unpiloted ISS Progress resupply vehicle approaches the International Space Station, carrying 2,050 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds oxygen and air, 926 pounds of water and 2,778 pounds of spare parts and experiment hardware for a total of 2.9 tons of food, fuel and equipment for the residents of the space station. Photo taken on January 12, 2012. (NASA) #

                               
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A swirling cloud formation and the lights of the Aurora Borealis, seen from the International Space Station, high above the Gulf of Alaska, on February 10, 2012. (NASA) #

                               
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Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Expedition 30 flight engineer, participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) to continue outfitting the International Space Station. During the six-hour, 15-minute spacewalk, Shkaplerov and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko (out of frame), flight engineer, moved the Strela-1 crane from the Pirs Docking Compartment to begin preparing the Pirs for its replacement next year with a new laboratory and docking module. Both spacewalkers wore Russian Orlan spacesuits bearing blue stripes and equipped with NASA helmet cameras. (NASA) #

                               
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Star trails captured from the ISS by Astronaut Ron Pettit. A long-exposure photograph of Earth's night side below, showing Airglow in the atmosphere, multiple lightning strikes, and streaks from city lights - as well as the star trails above. (NASA/Ron Pettit) #

                               
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This image provided by NASA shows a "Blue Marble" image of the Earth taken from the The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012. The NPP satellite was renamed "Suomi NPP" on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin. (AP Photo/NASA) #

                               
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The Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth's horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, aboard the International Space Station, on December 21, 2011. (AP Photo/NASA, Dan Burbank) #

                               
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The surface of Mars, in an enhanced-color image provided by NASA and released Wednesday January 25, 2012. The image shows sand dunes trapped in an impact crater in Noachis Terra. The area covered in the image is about six-tenths of a mile (1 kilometer) across. (AP Photo/NASA) #

                               
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