SOFIA Observatory Peers Into Heart of Orion Nebula

A new image from NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) shows a complex distribution of interstellar dust and stars in the Orion nebula.

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European Space Agency Flickr Update

Mars north polar ice cap

03-06-2013 10:24 AM CEST

The north polar ice cap of Mars, presented as a mosaic of 57 separate images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA's Mars Express. The ice cap spans approximately 1000 km and is seen here in polar stereographic projection.

The images were taken throughout the entire mission, when Mars Express was at its closest to Mars along its orbit, at about 300-500 km altitude.

The mosaic was published as space science image of the week on the occasion of the tenth anniversary since the mission launched on 2 June 2003.

European Space Agency Flickr Update

Expedition 36 Press Conference

27-05-2013 04:56 PM CEST

Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), center, Flight Engineers; Karen Nyberg of NASA, left, and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, give a thumbs up after the crew's press conference at the Cosmonaut Hotel, Monday, 27 May, 2013, in Kazakhstan.

The crew is in quarantine and behind glass during the press conference in preparation for their launch on a Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, 29 May, Kazakh time. Yurchikhin, Nyberg, and, Parmitano, will remain aboard the station until mid-November.