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| Dendi Caldera, Ethiopia is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 16 crew member on the International Space Station. The Dendi Caldera is located on the Ethiopian Plateau, approximately 86 kilometers to the southwest of Addis Ababa. A caldera is a geological feature formed by the near-total eruption of magma from beneath a volcano, leading to collapse of the volcanic structure into the now-empty magma chamber. This collapse typically leaves a crater or depression where the volcano stood, and later volcanic activity can fill the caldera with younger lavas, ash, pyroclastic rocks, and sediments. While much of the volcanic rock in the area is comprised of basalt erupted as part of the opening of the East African Rift, more silica-rich rock types (characterized by minerals such as quartz and feldspar) are also present. According to scientists, the approximately 4 kilometers wide Dendi Caldera includes some of this silica-rich volcanic rock -- the rim of the caldera, visible in this view, is comprised mainly of poorly-consolidated ash erupted during the Tertiary Period (approximately 65 -- 2 million years ago). A notable feature of the Dendi Caldera is the presence of two shallow lakes formed within the central depression (center). | Harrat Khaybar, Saudi Arabia is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 16 crewmember on the International Space Station. The western half of the Arabian peninsula contains not only large expanses of sand and gravel, but extensive lava fields known as haraat (harrat for a named field). One such field is the 14,000-square kilometer Harrat Khaybar, located approximately 137 kilometers to the northeast of the city of Al Madinah (Medina). According to scientists, the volcanic field was formed by eruptions along a 100-kilometer long north-south linear vent system over the past 5 million years; the most recent recorded eruption took place between 600 - 700 A.D. | Semien Mountains, Gonder, northern Ethiopia are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 16 crewmember on the International Space Station. The Semien Mountains, the highest parts of the Ethiopian Plateau (above 2,000 meters--6,560 feet), are surrounded by a steep, ragged escarpment (step) with dramatic vertical cliffs, pinnacles, and rock spires - scenery that draws international tourists. Included in the range is the highest point in Ethiopia, Ras Dashen at 4,533 meters (14,926 feet) - an altitude only recently computed with any accuracy. The plateau and surrounding areas are made up of numerous flood basalts, totaling probably more than 3,000 meters in thickness. According to scientists, the lavas erupted quickly (in about one million years) 31 million years ago, as Ethiopia passed above what is known as the Afar "hotspot." The hotspot caused the general region of Ethiopia to be elevated, which encouraged extensive river erosion. This erosion has cut the highly dramatic canyons that ring the plateau. | In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the external tank for space shuttle Discovery is being lowered into high bay 3. The tank will be mated to the solid rocket boosters waiting below on the mobile launcher platform. Discovery is targeted to launch May 31 on the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, Discovery will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS) to the space station to add to the Kibo laboratory. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett | A DC-8 casts its shadow over the Bering Sea, as it flies 350 feet over the sea's icy surface in this image taken on April 12, 2008. This month, during the third International Polar Year, NASA began an extensive field campaign to investigate and measure the chemistry in the Arctic's lower atmosphere. The Arctic region is a beacon of global climate change because it is an atmospheric receptor of pollution from the northern mid-latitude continents, manifested by thick aerosol layers called arctic haze, and by an accumulation of persistent pollutant heavy metals such as mercury. |
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| NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson, Expedition 16 commander, Garrett Reisman (right) and Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko (unsmiling as usual), both flight engineers, pose for a photo in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. | Before leaving the station, space shuttle Atlantis crew posed for a few pictures in the Columbus laboratory. Station Commander, Peggy Whitson is on top, is joined by flight engineers (from the left) European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts (outgoing), Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko (still unsmiling!) and astronaut Garrett Reisman (incoming). | At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft is rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan April 6, 2008 in preparation for the launch April 8 to carry new residents and a spaceflight participant to the International Space Station. | Preparations are shown underway for liftoff of the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft as the transporter-emplacer rotates the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the Soyuz spacecraft to the vertical position as a part of its installation on the launch system. At sunrise, the Soyuz was transported by railcar to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan April 6, 2008 for launch April 8 to carry new residents and a spaceflight participant to the International Space Station. | At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft lifted off into a cloudless sky April 8, 2008 at 5:16 p.m. Baikonur time to carry Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov, Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko and South Korean spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi to the International Space Station and a docking on April 10. |
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| The Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft approaches the International Space Station, carrying Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts Sergei Volkov, Expedition 17 commander; Oleg Kononenko, flight engineer; and South Korean spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi. Docking with the Pirs Docking Compartment occurred at 8:57 a.m. (EDT) on April 10, 2008. | This image shows an equatorial volcanic vent on Mars. A volcanic vent is an opening in the crust of a planet that emits lava (molten rock) and volcanic gases. The rough texture of the plains surrounding the vent is indicative of lava. | This Martian image shows a large symmetrical alluvial fan at the mouth of a small channel along an unnamed crater. Alluvial fans with a well-defined channel source area are relatively uncommon on Mars. This fan has a rib-like outer margin and many more terrace-like scarps upslope near the channel mouth. These terraces may indicate the outer margin of sediment deposits during each “pulse” of deposition. Further study of these types of alluvial fans may shed light on past sedimentary environments and conditions on Mars. | Amazingly, this image has captured at least four Martian avalanches, or debris falls, in action. It was taken on February 19, 2008, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | This is an image of Earth and the moon, acquired on October 3, 2007, by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. At the time the image was taken, Earth was 142 million kilometers (88 million miles) from Mars, giving the HiRISE image a scale of 142 kilometers (88 miles) per pixel, an Earth diameter of about 90 pixels and a moon diameter of 24 pixels. |
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| An unpiloted Progress supply vehicle on its way to dock with the International Space Station is not so easily delineated in this scene, as it is backdropped in center frame by a salt marsh (Chott Djerid) in Tunisia. | Astronaut Peggy Whitson, Expedition 16 commander, participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as maintenance and construction continue on the International Space Station. | The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly past Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in commemoration of NASA's 50th anniversary. The aircraft had flown earlier to support the Daytona 500, also celebrating its 50th anniversary, and chose to fly over Kennedy on their way to their next assignment. On the pad, space shuttle Endeavour waits to launch on the STS-123 mission. Photo courtesy of USAF/TSgt. Justin D. Pyle | Space Shuttle Atlantis roars skyward with its crew and the Euopean Space Agency's Columbus lab. | At about the time when the shuttle clears the launch tower, Houston Mission Control takes over for Kennedy Space Center's launch team. |
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| A few seconds after the shuttle's main engines ignite, the solid rocket boosters ignite producing a picture-perfect liftoff. | Progress 28 resupply arrived at the station on February 7th. | Taken from the station, this image shows an overhead view of Atlantis and its docking mechanism. | Cosiguina Volcano, Nicaragua is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 16 crewmember on the International Space Station. Three Central American countries (El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua) include coastline along the Gulf of Fonseca that opens into the Pacific Ocean. The southern boundary of the Gulf is a peninsula formed by the Cosiguina volcano illustrated in this view. Cosiguina is a stratovolcano, typically tall cone-shaped structures formed by alternating layers of solidified lava and volcanic rocks (ash, pyroclastic flows, breccias) produced by explosive eruptions. | Glowing an eerie green over Ontario, Canada the Aurora Borealis reflects off the solar panels on the space station. |
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| This object, known as HH49/50 is about 450 light years distant and represents a bit of a mystery. Energetic outflows like this are usually associated with star birth but it is unknown what is causing the spiraling structure seen here. | The Cassini spacecraft snapped this picture of Saturn's icy moon Dione. The icy moon can be seen here with Saturn's northern latitudes in the background. Also visible are the thin shadows of the C ring and part of the B ring. | ISS Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson is seen here during an eva to continue outfitting the Harmony module now in its permanent position in front of the Destiny Laboratory. Whitson and Tani spent just over 7 hours outside during this eva. | NASA was thinking about space stations very early in its existence. This prototype was developed in 1961. It was an inflatable station 24 feet in diameter and used a solar power system collector. The station used an internal fabric bulkhead which could be pressurized in an emergency. | Astronaut Clay Anderson waves to the camera during a spacewalk. Clay was a part of the Expedition 15/16 crews and returned to space with STS120. |
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| The Harmony module is being relocated to it's permanent location on the ISS by the Expedition 16 crew. | Stepping back in time, this image was taken April 21, 1972. Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, is photographed collecting lunar samples at Station No. 1, during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity (EVA-1), at the Descartes landing site. This picture, looking eastward, was taken by astronaut John W. Young, commander. Duke is standing at the rim of Plum crater. The parked Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) can be seen in the left background. While astronaut's Young and Duke descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Orion" to explore the Descartes highlands region of the Moon, astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Casper" in lunar orbit. | Backdropped by the blackness of space and Earth's horizon, the docked Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-120) and a Soyuz spacecraft are featured in this image photographed by a crewmember on the International Space Station. | Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the Harmony node in Space Shuttle Discovery's cargo bay is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 16 crewmember on the International Space Station while Discovery is docked with the station. | NASA astronaut Clay Anderson, Expedition 15 flight engineer, poses for a photo near the Earth observation window in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. |
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| Hurricane Felix as photographed by cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, part of Expeditions 15 on the International Space Station. |