(1996) - An artist's rendering of the the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft's rendezvous with the asteroid Eros. Upon arrival, the spacecraft will orbit the mountain-sized body for nearly 13 months, sending back the first comprehensive dataset about an asteroid. This image produced for NASA by Pat Rawlings, (SAIC). Technical concepts for NASA's Exploration Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC).

(February 1995) - Earth's Moon, just 3 days away, is a good place to test hardware and operations for a human mission to Mars. A simulated mission, including the landing of an adapted Mars excursion vehicle, could test many relevant Mars systems and technologies. Artwork done for NASA by Pat Rawlings, of SAIC.

(1997) - The Carl Sagan Memorial Station, previously known as the Mars Pathfinder Lander, proved that a high degree of knowledge and innovation, coupled with a bit of luck, could put a very-low cost spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Depicted here by an aritist, the lander and rover surpassed their initial design life and went on to return many high resolution images of the ancient flood-washed plain of Ares Valles. This art work was produced for NASA by Pat Rawlings, (SAIC). Technical concepts for NASA's Exploration Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC).

(January 1989) - A NASA artist's concept of a vehicle which could provide an artificial-gravity environment of Mars exploration crews. The piloted vehicle rotates around the axis that contains the solar panels. Levels of artificial gravity vary according to the tether length and the rate at which the vehicle spans.

Mars Outpost as outlined in FY-89 Office of Exploration Annual Report, depicted during consolidation Phase. Projected time from start of Emplacement Phase to Consolidation Phase - 4 years with 4 years to complete consolidation and begin full utilization. Main components are a habitat module, pressurized rover dock/equipment lock, airlocks, and a 16 meter constructable (inflatable) habitat. Also visible in this image is a meteorological balloon, an unpressurized rover, a storage work area, a geophysical experiment area and a local area antenna. The Outpost is for 7 astronauts whose mission will focus on research related to Earth sciences such as mining of Mars and Phobos; life science research; advanced technical development; origin of life studies; and further solar system exploration. Mars Outpost elements and procedures are derived from an earlier lunar test bed. This painting was done by Mark Dowman of John Frassanito & Associates For NASA, JSC's of Office of Exploration.

(January 1989) - This is an artist's concept depicting a possible scene when the first human travelers might walk on the surface of Mars. The artwork was part of a NASA new initiatives study which surveyed possible future manned planetary expeditionary activity. The area depicted is Noctis Labyrinthus in the Valles Marineris system of enormous canyons. The scene is just after sunrise, and on the canyon floor four miles below, early morning clouds can be seen. The frost on the surface will melt very quickly as the Sun climbs higher in the Martian sky. The astronaut depicted on the left might be a planetary geologist seeking to get a closer look at the stratigraphic details of the canyon walls. On the right, the geologist's companion is setting up a weather station to monitor Martian climatology. In the far right frame is a six wheeled articulated rover, which transported the pair of astronauts here from their landing site. The vehicle is unpressurized.

(February 1995) - Two kilometers above the lava flows of Mars' Tharsis Bulge region, a geologist collects samples from the eastern cliff at the base of Olympus Mons, the solar system's largest known shield volcano. To better understand the evolution of the Arizona-sized volcano, the scientist investigates the layers of hardened lava that make up the massive feature. The block-like nature of the rock face, caused by columnar jointing, is similar to features on Earth, such as the Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Artwork done for NASA by Pat Rawlings, of SAIC.

Today, planet Earth passes through the plane of Saturn's rings. From the perspective of earthbound astronomers, Saturn's rings will be edge-on. The problem is, Saturn itself is now very close to the Sun, low on horizon after sunset, so good telescopic images will be difficult to come by. Still, this composite of Saturn views taken from 2004 - 2009 (lower right to upper left) illustrates the change in ring tilt over the last six years and includes a nearly edge-on ring view, based on images captured earlier this year. While Saturn's south pole is clearly seen in the sequence, particularly at the lower right, it will be hidden in the coming years. Saturn's north pole will be increasingly visible, along with the tilting rings, as the planet emerges this fall in the predawn sky. Credit & Copyright: Alan Friedman

As part the STS-128 mission's first spacewalk, astronauts Danny Olivas and Nicole Stott (right) removed an empty ammonia tank from the station's truss and temporarily stowed it on the station's robotic arm. Olivas and Stott also retrieved the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) and Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) from the Columbus laboratory module and installed them on Discovery’s payload bay for return. Credit: NASA

This image acquired by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument on 31 July 2009 over the Nunavut territory in the Canadian Arctic captures the contrast of the icy shallower waters of Foxe Basin (top centre) with the warmer deeper waters of Foxe Channel (bottom). Foxe Basin is a shallow extension of the Atlantic Ocean located between Baffin Island (top right), the fifth largest island in the world, and the Melville Peninsula (upper left, partially cloud covered). Foxe Basin connects with Hudson Bay (bottom) and Hudson Strait (located beneath Baffin Island, cloud covered) via the 320-km long Foxe Channel. Ungava Peninsula is visible in the bottom right corner beneath the Hudson Strait. The larger island to its northwest is Southampton Island. The two smaller islands at the bottom of the image (Coats, left, and Mansel) lie at the northern part of Hudson Bay.

This Envisat image features a cloud-free France, located in Western Europe. As visible, France’s topography is one of the most varied in Europe, ranging from broad plains to the continent’s highest peak. Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument acquired this image on 15 August 2009.

Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) acquired this image of Greece on 22 August 2009 at 08:37 UTC (11:37 Greece local time). The smoke from the fires raging in the area of Grammatikos, north of Athens, is visible. Pushed by strong northerly winds, the smoke extends far to the south, up to 200 km, and covers the eastern part of the city of Athens.

No embiggination.

This Envisat image captures Hurricane Jimena roaring towards Mexico's Baja California Peninsula on 31 August 2009 (18:09 UT). Around the time of the acquisition, Jimena had maximum sustained winds of nearly 250 km/h and was just short of being classified as a Category 5 storm – the highest danger rating for a hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson intensity scale. Instruments aboard ESA’s Envisat allow it to observe various features of hurricanes, including cloud structure, wind and wave fields, sea-surface temperature and sea-surface height. Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) optical instrument acquired this image working in Full Resolution mode to provide a spatial resolution of 300 m.