Bolts light up Earth’s atmosphere 4 million times a day. Scientists hope to observe a few.
Published Mar 23, 2014
City lights sprawl across Earth’s surface below a constant glow in the upper atmosphere.
Published Oct 23, 2018
Red colors of the aurora are dominant in this image captured by a digital still camera in September 2001. Auroras are caused when high-energy electrons pour down from the Earth’s magnetosphere and collide with atoms. Red aurora occurs from 200 km to as high as 500 km altitude and is caused by the emission of 6300 Angstrom wavelength light from oxygen atoms.
Published Dec 2, 2001
Astronauts supplied the International Space Station with a new logistics module; tested tools, technologies, and techniques to refuel satellites in space; and collected old equipment.
Published Jul 21, 2011
The limb of the Earth is a work of awesome beauty and a gift to science.
Published Nov 26, 2011
A pair of sounding rockets took aim at the aurora over Svalbard, Norway, to help scientists understand how Earth loses oxygen into space.
Published Dec 17, 2018
Within three minutes, astronauts acquired two photographs of elusive red sprite emissions above thunderstorms.
Published Aug 24, 2015
Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches the International Space Station for docking for the last time on July 10, 2011.
Published Jul 15, 2011
If Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, had a sister she would be the goddess of Aurora. Glowing green ripples form arcs that constantly transform their shape into new glowing diaphanous forms. There is nothing static about auroras. They are always moving, always changing, and like snowflakes, each display is different from the last.
Published Jan 5, 2004
A camera onboard the International Space Station delivers the space-based view of meteors burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Published Aug 13, 2016
Space Shuttle Atlantis streaked across the sky to its final landing at Kennedy Space Center.
Published Jul 28, 2011
In July 2011, the Space Shuttle Atlantis lit its rockets and roared into space for the 135th and last flight of the U.S. space transportation system.
Published Jul 9, 2011
The above photo of the International Space Station was taken by an astronaut aboard the space shuttle on April 17, 2002. Although its construction is not yet complete, Space Station Alpha began operations in November 2000. It now serves as home to three astronauts as well as dozens of already ongoing science experiments.
Published Jan 25, 2003
Primarily designed to give astronauts a way to see the outside of the ISS, it also provides stunning panoramic views of Earth and space.
Published Feb 20, 2010
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