Olympus Mons From Orbit
19.10.1998

Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest volcano in the Solar System. Although three times higher than Earth's Mount Everest, Olympus Mons would not be difficult to climb because of the volcano's great breadth.

From Mars with Love
28.06.1999

Are Martians trying to tell us something? An indentation has been recently photographed on Mars that resembles a heart, a common human symbol for love. Because intelligent Martians have never been known to exist...

Apollo 17 Lunarscape: A Magnificent Desolation
9.11.2003

Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 Lunar Module pilot and the second human to walk on the Moon, described the lunar landscape as "a magnificent desolation". Dramatic pictures from the Apollo missions to the lunar surface testify to this apt turn of phrase.

ISS: Reflections of Earth
16.01.2009

Remarkable details are visible in this view of the orbiting International Space Station (ISS), recorded with a small telescope on planet Earth through a clear twilight sky. Seen on December 27th at about...

Clouds Near the Edge of Space
22.08.2012

Noctilucent or night-shining clouds lie near the edge of space. From about 80 kilometers above Earth's surface, the icy clouds can still reflect sunlight even though the Sun itself is below the horizon as seen from the ground.

The Millennium that Defined Earth
31.12.2000

When the second millennium began, people generally knew that the Earth was round, but few saw much of it beyond their local village. As the millennium progressed, humans mapped the continents, circumnavigated the globe, and determined the composition of the Earth.

Summer at the South Pole
22.12.1995

December 22 marks the Winter Solstice - the beginning of winter in the Earth's northern hemisphere, and the first day of summer in the south! This view of Earth's southern hemisphere near the beginning of its summer was created using images from the Galileo spacecraft taken during the December 1990 flyby.

Uranus' Moon Ariel: Valley World
3.03.1996

What formed Ariel's valleys? This question presented itself when Voyager 2 passed this satellite of Uranus in January 1986. Speculation includes that heating caused by the ancient tides of Uranus caused moonquakes and massive shifting of the moon's surface.

Mars Pathfinder's Landing Site
24.07.1997

Where is Mars Pathfinder? Follow the arrow in the above picture taken by the Viking Orbiter in 1976. From the surface Mars appears covered with rocks, but from orbit Mars appears covered with craters. However, several familiar features are visible in this photograph.

At The Suns Edge
20.08.1999

This dramatic set of prominences looms beyond the edge of the sun. The image was captured by astrophotographer Bob Yen as he stood in the moon's shadow near Bagdere, Turkey on August 11 for the millennium's last total solar eclipse.