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Pictures of Spacecraft
Curiosity Points to Its Landing Site
A model of Curiosity the day before it departed for Gale Crater, which is found on this globe of Mars just above the model's robotic arm.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
An Atlas V rocket lifts the spacecraft carrying the Mars Curiosity rover into the morning sky.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, rockets, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, Earth, Galileo
Taken on April 4, 2011, during a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand close to a Mars rover.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Cropped from the amazing color self-portrait photo of Curiosity standing on Mars, on sol 84 (October 31, 2012). The photo is a mosaic of images shot with MAHLI, the camera on the end of the robotic arm.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, Mars, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Possibly problematic "edge welds" on the CHIMRA 150-micrometer sieve
This image shows the location of the 150-micrometer sieve screen on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, a device used to remove larger particles from samples before delivery to science instruments. The sieve lies within the Collection and Handling for In-situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) structure, which is on the end of the rover's turret, or arm. This sieve on an Earth test unit of CHIMRA has suffered popping of its edge welds, which presents the possibility that particles larger than 150 microns in diameter could pass by the sieve.
Filed under mission status, explaining technology, spacecraft, Mars, Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory)
Chang'e 2 en route to asteroid Toutatis (animation)
A four-frame animation of Chang'e 2 on its way to Toutatis, captured by the 0.4-meter Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at the Great Shefford Observatory in West Berkshire, England. The image set was captured on August 28, 2012.
Filed under mission status, pretty pictures, animation, spacecraft, amateur astrophotos, pics of spacecraft in space, Chang'E program
Chang'e 2 in interplanetary space
A 15-exposure image stack capturing Chang'e 2 on its way to asteroid Toutatis, captured by the 0.4-meter Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at the Great Shefford Observatory in West Berkshire, England. The images were captured on August 18, 2012.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, amateur astrophotos, pics of spacecraft in space, Chang'E program
Space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope drift apart on May 19, 2009, having been linked together for the better part of a week.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, Space Shuttle program, Earth, astronomy and astrophysics spacecraft, Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is lifted completely out of Atlantis' cargo bay on May 19, 2009 and release is moments away to start it on its way to observe the universe.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, Space Shuttle program, astronomy and astrophysics spacecraft, Hubble Space Telescope
An artist's conception of the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO) in orbit around the Moon.
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
View of Hubble captured by astronauts from the space shuttle Columbia during mission STS-109, March 2002. The astronauts installed new solar arrays as well as the Advanced Camera for Surveys and repaired the NICMOS instrument.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, Earth, Hubble Space Telescope
Galileo, launched in 1989, flew by the Earth twice for gravity assists on its 6-year journey to Jupiter.
Filed under Earth, Galileo, pretty pictures, art, spacecraft
The Orbiter swoops low over the Lander soon after touchdown on the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Rosetta and Philae
Filed under pretty pictures, art, spacecraft, Rosetta and Philae
Hayabusa approaches asteroid Itokawa, casting a shadow on its surface. A 3D anaglyph is also available.
Filed under pretty pictures, 3D, art, spacecraft, asteroids, asteroid 25143 Itokawa, Hayabusa (MUSES-C)
Minerva hopper and Hayabusa's shadow at Itokawa
A photo of the asteroid Itokawa from the Hayabusa spacecraft on November 12, 2005 shows the Minerva lander (dot inside the yellow circle, and detail inside the yellow square) near the asteroid. Minerva was released and activated successfully but failed to land on Itokawa. The dark bow-tie shape on Itokawa is the shadow of Hayabusa.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, asteroids, asteroid 25143 Itokawa, Hayabusa (MUSES-C)
Left hand side image shows the area named MUSES Sea taken at 4:58 a.m., November 20, and right hand side image was taken at 6:24 a.m., November 26. A white light spot inside a red circle is the Target Marker with the names of 880,000 people from 149 countries.
Filed under pretty pictures, spacecraft, pics of spacecraft in space, Messages from Earth, asteroids, asteroid 25143 Itokawa, Hayabusa (MUSES-C)
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