First Landing
Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to land on the Moon, in Februay 1966 (artist’s concept, top). The Soviet probe…
Dropping In
A probe dropped through Jupiter’s atmosphere in December of 1995, measuring the atmosphere’s temperature, pressure, and composition. Part of the…
Space (Shuttle) Telescope
A set of telescopes stares into space from the cargo bay of space shuttle Columbia in December 1990. The telescopes…
Spectacular Crab
Strands of gas and dust form the spectacular Crab Nebula, the remnant of a star that exploded almost a millennium…
Icy Realm
Billions of icy bodies inhabit the Kuiper Belt, a wide band beyond the orbit of Neptune, the solar system’s most…
The First
This artist’s concept depicts a giant planet orbiting the star 51 Pegasi, in the constellation Pegasus. The planet was the…
First Encounter
The New Horizons spacecraft is closing in on Pluto, with its closest approach scheduled for July 14, as depicted in…
Dark Planet
Mercury, the Sun’s innermost planet, is one of the darkest major bodies in the solar system. It reflects less than…
Best Shot
The New Horizons spacecraft snapped this view of Pluto (bottom) and its largest moon, Charon (top) from a range of…
The Homunculus
The near-death of a massive star created this vast peanut-shaped cloud of gas and dust, known as the Homunculus Nebula.…