Light shines from a total lunar eclipse over Santa Monica Beach in California in 2021. Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP hide caption
space
From left: Beyoncé, some bears, Ozzy. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images; Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images; Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images hide caption
A close-up photo of Mercury's north pole taken by the spacecraft BepiColombo. European Space Agency via AP hide caption
The northern lights flare in the sky over a farmhouse on May 10, 2024, in Brunswick, Maine. Robert F. Bukaty/AP hide caption
This image made available by NASA shows an artist's rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. Steve Gribben/AP/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA hide caption
In this handout photo released by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service, a view of the International Space Station taken on Mar. 30, 2022 by crew of Russian Soyuz MS-19 space ship after undocking from the Station. Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service/AP hide caption
A commercial airliner flies before the rising Beaver full moon above Kuwait City on Nov. 27, 2023. Yasser Al-Zayyat/Getty Images hide caption
Artistic renditions of a future Mars settlement often feature structures above ground, as seen above. But after extensive research, authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith found that any potential settlement would have to be below ground. janiecbros/Getty Images hide caption
Humans on Mars? Here's why you shouldn't plan a space move anytime soon
This 2014 image provided by NASA shows a Taurid fireball recorded at the NASA All Sky Fireball Network station in Tullahoma, Tenn. NASA/AP hide caption
A Long March rocket with a Shenzhou-19 spacecraft atop takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China in the early hours of Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. Ng Han Guan/AP/AP hide caption
Official SpaceX Crew-8 portrait with (L-R) Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Aleksandr Grebenkin, and Pilot Michael Barratt, Commander Matthew Dominick, and Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps, all three NASA astronauts. Bill Stafford/NASA hide caption
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Europa Clipper spacecraft aboard launches from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Monday. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas is seen over the hills near the village of Aguas Blancas, Lavalleja Department, Uruguay, at dawn on Sept. 28,. Mariana Suarez/Getty Images hide caption
An image captured from a SpaceX livestream shows the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft preparing to lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday. SpaceX/Screenshot by NPR hide caption
Astronauts and Artemis II mission specialists Christina Koch, left, and Jeremy Hansen, right, exit the International Space Station mockup in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility on Aug. 26, 2024, at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Danielle Villasana for NPR hide caption
How the crew of NASA's Artemis II prepares for a mission to the moon
Katherine G. Johnson at Work at NASA's Langley Research Center in 1980. Bob Nye/NASA hide caption
In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore (left) and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13. NASA/via AP hide caption
Four astronauts from the Polaris Dawn mission — from left, Jared Isaacman (mission commander), Sarah Gillis (mission specialist), Anna Menon (mission specialist/medical officer) and Scott “Kidd” Poteet (pilot), say they've gone through some 2,000 hours of simulator training to prepare for an ambitious visit to space. John Kraus/Polaris Program hide caption
During its 1997 flight, the Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Moon. This color picture is a mosaic assembled from 18 images taken by Galileo's imaging system through a green filter. NASA/JPL/USGS hide caption
Where did Earth's moon come from? And other moon mysteries
From left: Elon Musk, a sloth, Tom Cruise. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize; Ezequiel Becerra/AFP via Getty Images; Jamie Squire/Getty Images hide caption
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams wave as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on June 5. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Jets of gas being released from newly forming stars are captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. NPR/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI) hide caption
Astronaut Wendy B. Lawrence was aboard the the Space Shuttle Endeavour for the STS-67/ASTRO-2 mission when it launched March 2nd, 1995. NASA hide caption
From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space
Astronaut Wendy B. Lawrence was aboard the the Space Shuttle Endeavour for the STS-67/ASTRO-2 mission when it launched March 2nd, 1995. NASA hide caption