Space Gallery

Rising Earth about five degrees above the lunar horizon

This December, 1968 NASA file image shows the rising Earth is about five degrees above the lunar horizon in this telephoto view taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft. The horizon, about 570 kilometers (250 statute miles) from the spacecraft, is near the eastern limb of the Moon as viewed from the Earth. On the earth, the sunset terminator crosses Africa. The south pole is in the white area near the left end of the terminator. North and South America are under the clouds. The lunar surface probably has less pronounced color than indicated by this print. AFP PHOTO/NASA / AFP PHOTO / NASA / HO

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Us-Magnetic Field

This picture is a false color image of the transparent, electrified gas (plasma) trapped inside Earth's magnetic field taken by NASA's Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft on 11 August, 2000. The IMAGE spacecraft is looking down at the Earth from above the north pole, and the globe or sphere in the center represents the position and size of the Earth. The image (top) is the ultraviolet glow from relatively cold plasma as seen by the Extreme Ultraviolet imager (EUV) instrument on board IMAGE. A hook-shaped "tail" of plasma streaming toward the Sun can be seen at the top left of the picture. Note also the small, faint circle near the center of the image - this is the ultraviolet glow from the aurora, also known as the northern lights. AFP PHOTO/NASA
/ AFP PHOTO / NASA

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Us-Helios Prototype 2

This November, 1999 NASA file photo taken from the NASA Internet site 26 June, 2001 shows the solar-powered Helios prototype in flight over a lake bed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. NASA plans to send the 15 million USD, solar-powered experimental plane into the skies over Hawaii sometime in July, achieving speeds no faster than a bicycle, powered by 14 electric motors not much stronger than hair dryers.
NASA has billed the unmanned, remotely piloted Helios as the first step toward an aircraft that will soar at 100, 000 feet -- or 20, 000 feet above the current record for a propeller-drive airplane and more than three times higher than commercial jets routinely travel. AFP PHOTO/Tom Tschida / AFP PHOTO / NASA/DFRC / TOM TSCHIDA

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