The Alps in Winter

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Expedition 46 Flight Engineer Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) photographed the Alps from orbit on Dec. 27, 2015 and later shared the image with his social media followers, writing, "There may not be much snow in the Alps this winter but they still look stunning from here! #Principia" via NASA http://ift.tt/1miLof5

Reading the Alphabet From Space

NASA's Earth Observatory has tracked down images resembling all 26 letters of the English alphabet using only NASA satellite imagery and astronaut photography. In this image, the letter 'Y' is for yardangs, elongated landforms sculpted by erosion and similar to sand dunes, but instead comprised of sandstone or siltstone. via NASA http://ift.tt/1ZzD7Bo

Boulders on a Martian Landslide

The striking feature in this image, acquired by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 19, 2014, is a boulder-covered landslide along a canyon wall. Landslides occur when steep slopes fail, sending a mass of soil and rock to flow downhill, leaving behind a scarp at the top of the slope. via NASA http://ift.tt/1ZxnSsx

Christmas Pluto

Pluto gets into the holiday spirit, decked out in red and green using a pair of Ralph/LEISA instrument scans. via NASA http://ift.tt/22quRWL

Zinnia Flowers Starting to Grow on the International Space Station

Zinnia flowers are starting to grow in the International Space Station's Veggie facility as part of the VEG-01 investigation. Veggie provides lighting and nutrient supply for plants in the form of a low-cost growth chamber and planting "pillows” to provide nutrients for the root system. via NASA http://ift.tt/1mApUtZ

NASA Astronaut Tim Kopra on Dec. 21 Spacewalk

Expedition 46 Flight Engineer Tim Kopra on a Dec. 21, 2015 spacewalk, in which Kopra and Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly successfully moved the International Space Station's mobile transporter rail car ahead of Wednesday's docking of a Russian cargo supply spacecraft. via NASA http://ift.tt/1S8leHF

Chandra Finds Remarkable Galactic Ribbon Unfurled

An extraordinary ribbon of hot gas trailing behind a galaxy like a tail has been discovered using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. via NASA http://ift.tt/1OGFdI6

NASA Releases New High-Resolution Earthrise Image

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft's vantage point in orbit around the moon. via NASA http://ift.tt/1ZfFEQZ

NuSTAR's View of Galaxy 1068

Galaxy 1068 is shown in visible light and X-rays in this composite image. High-energy X-rays (magenta) captured by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, are overlaid on visible-light images from both NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. via NASA http://ift.tt/1T4UPst

NuSTAR's View of Galaxy 1068

Galaxy 1068 is shown in visible light and X-rays in this composite image. High-energy X-rays (magenta) captured by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, are overlaid on visible-light images from both NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. via NASA http://ift.tt/1QPF49G

Expedition 46 Soyuz Approaches Space Station for Docking

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko manually docked the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft on Dec. 15, 2015 to the International Space Station's Rassvet module after an initial automated attempt was aborted. Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA flanked Malenchenko as he brought the Soyuz to the Rassvet port. via NASA http://ift.tt/1P8gjFL

Expedition 46 Soyuz Launch to the International Space Station

The Soyuz TMA-19M rocket is launched with Expedition 46 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA, and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency), Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. via NASA http://ift.tt/1jZR3nW

Expedition 46 Soyuz Rollout

In this one minute exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky as the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015 in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Expedition 46 crew to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz is scheduled for Dec. 15, 2015. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Qozyw6

Expedition 45 Crew Members Return Home

Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA captured this image from aboard the International Space Station, of the Dec. 11, 2015 undocking and departure of the Soyuz TMA-17M carrying home Expedition 45 crew members Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Kimiya Yui of JAXA. via NASA http://ift.tt/1OX6Pvb

Phytoplankton Bloom in the North Atlantic

On Sept. 23, 2015, the weather was adequate for the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite to acquire this view of a phytoplankton bloom in the North Atlantic. The image was composed with data from the red, green, and blue bands from VIIRS, in addition to chlorophyll data. via NASA http://ift.tt/1jQCdAm

Venus From the International Space Station

On Dec. 5, 2015, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui captured this image from the International Space Station of the planet Venus. Part of the station's Kibo laboratory is visible at the top of the frame. At the time this photograph was taken, Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft, a Venus climate orbiter, was nearing the planet. via NASA http://ift.tt/1HV7i1m

Armstrong Flight Research Center’s F-15D Eagle Follows OLYMPEX Science Mission

NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s F-15D Eagle #897, flown by pilot Troy Asher with videographer Lori Losey in the back seat, serves as a chase vehicle for NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory on the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX) science mission, Nov. 10, 2015. via NASA http://ift.tt/1m8xewH

Earth in Full View

The Apollo 17 crew caught this breathtaking view of our home planet as they were traveling to the moon on Dec. 7, 1972. It's the first time astronauts were able to photograph the South polar ice cap. Nearly the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible, along with the Arabian Peninsula. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Qr9JtL

Launch of Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Mission to the International Space Station

Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft launches aboard United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 4:44:56 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The mission will deliver experiments, equipment and supplies to the orbiting laboratory and its six-person crew. via NASA http://ift.tt/1IyvA1g

The Mountainous Shoreline of Sputnik Planum

In this highest-resolution image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, great blocks of Pluto’s water-ice crust appear jammed together in the informally named al-Idrisi mountains. via NASA http://ift.tt/1lCvXgz

ULA Atlas V Rocket With Cygnus Spacecraft at the Launch Pad

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard stands at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Dec. 3, 2015. via NASA http://ift.tt/1O5HzzT

Space Station's Robotic Arm Set for Arrival of Cygnus Cargo Craft

The International Space Station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, is visible over Earth in this Nov. 27, 2015 photograph. On Dec. 6, Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren will operate the Canadarm2 from inside the station's cupola, using it for the rendezvous and grapple of Orbital ATK's Cygnus commercial cargo craft. via NASA http://ift.tt/1NHLZCC

Celebrating 20 Years of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)

After 20 years in space, ESA and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, is still going strong. Originally launched in 1995 to study the sun and its influence out to the very edges of the solar system, SOHO revolutionized this field of science, known as heliophysics, providing the basis for nearly 5,000 scientific papers. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Xvle9g