If asked to picture a cactus, most people would describe a tall plant with arms that curve up towards the sky. Called the symbol of the Southwest, this cactus is the Saguaro cactus and only grows in the Sonora More
In late October 2006, Mount Belinda, on Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands, continued emitting volcanic ash and lava in what had become a five-year-long eruption. The volcano's first recorded eruption More
On October 7, 1593, the superintendent of the Republic of Venice founded a revolutionary new kind of settlement: Palmanova. The city's founding date commemorated the victory of European forces (supplied primari More
Mauna Loa is the largest of the five volcanoes that comprise the island of Hawai'i. Although it doesn't erupt as frequently as its little sister, Kilauea, Mauna Loa's eruptions are large and spectacular. Curtai More
In the spring of 2005, a team of paleontologists, led by James Kirkland of the Utah Geological Survey, announced the find of a new kind of dinosaur in the Cedar Mountain Formation. Dating from the early Cretace More
One of the richest mountain primate communities in Africa became a national park on March 3, 2004. Home to chimpanzees, Angolan black-and-white colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and other primates, the More
Steep rocky crags and towering cliffs rise out of the Gabilan Mountains east of Salinas Valley in Central California. Called www.nps.gov/pinn/index.htm Pinnacles National Monument , the landscape was formed as More
The bitter cold snap bearing down on northwest Russia and eastern Europe that has claimed many lives over the last few weeks has also locked the Gulf of Finland up in ice. This true-color modis.gsfc.nasa.gov M More
The 6,194-meter-tall (20,320-foot) Mt. McKinley is a towering double-peaked mountain in the middle of the Alaska Range, made all the more impressive for rising thousands of feet above its neighbors. As the ta More
A chunk of glacier was threatening to fall into an Andean lake and cause major flooding in a Peruvian city of 60,000. A fissure has appeared in the glacier that feeds the Lake Palcacocha near the city of Huaraz More
In the northwestern part of Alaska's Prince William Sound, College Fjord cuts 40 kilometers into the heart of the rugged Chugach Mountains. The fjord contains five tidewater glaciers (glaciers that terminate in More
Heavy rains in Central Europe over the past few weeks have led to some of the worst flooding the region has seen in over 100 years. The floods have killed over 100 people in Germany, Russia, Austria, Hungary, a More
This April 7, 2000 image of Istanbul, Turkey shows a 21 by 24 km Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sub-scene in the visible and infrared channels. Vegetation appears red, an More
It's not hard to see why Native American cultures consider Rainbow Bridge sacred. The huge stone bridge that straddles this feeder canyon to the Colorado River in southern Utah is a dramatic and mysterious sigh More
After two days of blustery weather, the skies cleared over Massachusetts on January 24, 2005. Along with other northeastern U.S. states, Massachusetts was slammed with a powerful blizzard on January 22 and 23 t More
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recently approved the name Rachmaninoff for an intriguing double-ring basin on Mercury. This basin, first imaged in its entirety during MESSENGER's third Mercury flyby More
This image of Alexandria was taken by astronauts on board the International Space Station in December 2000 using an Electronic Still Camera. A eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/1000/1056/STS088-739-9 More
Athletes and sports fans from all over the world will soon focus their attention on Athens, Greece -- host city for the www.athens2004.com/ 2004 Summer Olympic Games. This high-resolution image shows the Ath More
1938: Days of heavy rain pounded Southern California during late February and early March. Water pooled in the valleys, and ran off into raging rivers. The Santa Ana River and its tributaries sent walls of mud More
The Pasterze Glacier in western Austria has been receding since 1856. A combination of higher summer temperatures and lower winter snowfall is causing the retreat. Glaciers in nearby Switzerland receded more ra More
Crater Lake National Park is one of the oldest parks in the United States, created in 1902 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The first lodge in the park opened in 1915, and the Rim Drive around the lake gave the More
On the first day of winter, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake rumbled along the central California coast. In general terms, the tectonic activity of central California is caused by the northwestward slide of the plate More
Meandering across a wide, relatively flat plain, the White River of Arkansas is no stranger to flooding. With regularity, spring rains push the river over its banks, inundating the flood-adapted forest that sur More
Dinosaur National Monument straddles the borders of Colorado and Utah along the banks of the Green and Yampa Rivers. The park covers 210,000 acres and is famous for the dinosaur fossils found there. The paleon More
Heavy rains in Central and Eastern Europe over the past few weeks have led to some of the worst flooding the region has witnessed in more than a century. The floods have killed more than 100 people in Germany, More
In the boreal zone of Eurasia, particularly in the Russian Federation and northern China, the number and extent of fires have been observed to increase over the last few years. During the first two weeks of Apr More
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve lies on the Pacific Coast of Alaska south of the St. Elias mountain range. The first recorded charting of the area was done in 1794 by George Vancouver, in which he show More
On February 2, tens of thousands will gather at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, for Groundhog's Day. Punxsutawney, located approximately 90 miles northeast of Pittsburg in Western Pennsylvania, w More
Inhabited since medieval times, the city of Berlin grew up out of settlements along the Spree River in a region of Europe long known as ''the Mark of Brandenburg.'' From its first recorded settlements in 1237, More
Alaska has a long history of attracting wilderness and wildlife seekers as well as those who seek to make money from the state's abundant natural resources -- from timber to gold. Among the places where those t More
In the early 19th century, the village of Yerba Buena overlooked a natural harbor along the Pacific Ocean. In 1848, a local carpenter found gold in northern California, ushering in the California Gold Rush. The More
Edwin P. Hubble--famed astronomer--and basketball star? In fact, Dr. Hubble was both. The University of Chicago alumnus was a member the UC Maroons team that in 1909 won the college championship over Indiana Un More
Rock Creek National Park is a forested valley running through the District of Columbia along the banks of Rock Creek. The national park connects with additional state park land outside of the district, providin More
Located in the Southern Atlantic Ocean roughly 1,700 miles (2,735 km) due east of Argentina's southernmost tip, South Georgia Island was a stop-over point for www.south-pole.com/p0000097.htm Sir Ernest Shackle More
Surrounded by sand dunes, Lake Disappointment is an ephemeral salt lake in one of the most remote areas of Western Australia. An early explorer supposedly named the lake in 1897 after following a number of cre More
Lassen Volcanic National Park lies in Northern California at the southern end of the Cascade Range. Along the western edge of the park is Lassen Peak, the active volcano for which the park was named. Although n More
Gunung Bromo (Mount Bromo) is a small but active volcanic cinder cone on the Indonesian island of Java. Bromo is located in the center of the Sandsea Caldera, itself only a portion of the larger www.volcano.si More
This image of Las Vegas, Nevada, was acquired on August, 2000, and covers an area 42 km (25 miles) wide and 30 km (18 miles) long. The image displays three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength More
April 1, 2004, was a sunny spring day for most of Scandinavia and the Baltic States, though a region of hazy air lurked offshore to the west and to the south. The cloud-free skies gave the Sea-viewing Wide Fiel More
All over the world humans struggle to provide themselves with food, housing, and comfortable lives, while preserving the natural environment so that it can continue to sustain animals, plants, and other living More
Frequent earthquakes and plumes of sulfur-laden gas indicated that Mt. Merapi was gearing up for an eruption in late April 2006. The volcano is one of Indonesia's most active and dangerous volcanoes. The slopes More
Timbuktu in the West African nation of Mali is at the intersection of an east-west and a north-south Trans Saharan trade route across the Sahara. The city-state was an intellectual and spiritual capital in the More
Forming the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, Greece is made up of a series of mountains that run into the sea, extending into scattered islands through the Aegean Sea in the east. The texture of mountain a More
An intrusion of black, contorted rocks spills over the Snake River Plain in southeastern Idaho, smothering the desert sagebrush and halting the encroaching farms. The occasional Juniper tree, scraggy and tenac More
This false-color satellite image shows greater New York City. The Island of Manhattan is jutting southward from top center, bordered by the Hudson River to the west and the East River to the east. (North is str More
Along the coast of California, the tectonic plate underlying the Pacific Ocean and the plate harboring the North American landmass meet at the San Andreas Fault. Intense pressure builds up along the fault as th More
The first state of the Union is nearly the last in size. One of the original 13 colonies, Delaware was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, but it is second to last in area, after Rhode Island. This More
Named Isla de Aves in Spanish, (meaning ''Island of the Birds'') Aves Island lies west of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It provides a nesting site to green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and, of course, b More
Covering 6,641 square kilometers (2,564 square miles), Banff National Park lies on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. Banff was the first national park declared in Canada, and the thir More
Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew launched at 2:38 p.m. EDT on July 4, 2006 to begin their journey to the International Space Station during the STS-121 mission. The shuttle made history as it w More
Deriba Caldera, a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, is a geologically young volcanic structure located at the top of the Marra Mountains of wes More
The spectacular nighttime launch of a Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft lifted off on time at 10:49 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. More
A technician straps legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield into the cockpit of the X-15 rocket plane before an early test flight. The X-15's maiden flight... NASA Identifier: 358032main_image_1382_full
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured this image of comet Holmes in March 2008, five months after the comet suddenly erupted and brightened a millionfold... NASA Identifier: 356082main_PIA11228_full
This overhead view is of Atlantis atop a modified 747 as the craft flew over California's high desert. Atlantis and the crew of STS-125 mission landed... NASA Identifier: 355493main_ED09-0127-101_full_full
Marshall Space Flight Center scientist Ed West assembles the optical system of the Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation (SUMI) telescope. SUMI was built by a team of Marshall solar physicists and engine More
This composite image shows a small region of the Chandra Deep Field North. The diffuse blue object near the center of the image is believed to be a cosmic... NASA Identifier: 352981main_ghost_full
Backdropped by the blackness of space and the thin line of Earth's atmosphere, space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay, Canadian-built remote manipulator... NASA Identifier: 350419main_s125e012372_full
The STS-125 crew took a final look at the Hubble Space Telescope on May 19, 2009, prior to the telescopes's release following a full week's work. Atlantis'... NASA Identifier: 349643main_s125e010160_hires_full
Why are many large craters on Mercury relatively smooth inside? Images from the MESSENGER spacecraft that flew by Mercury in October 2008 show previously... NASA Identifier: 354324main_mercurywest_messenger_big_full
Flight Engineers Roman Romanenko, Frank De Winne and Robert Thirsk of the 20th International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-15 from the... NASA Identifier: 352185main_SCO7815_full
A new Navy supply ship, dedicated to Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronaut Wally Schirra, was launched into San Diego Bay on Sunday, March 8, 2009. The Wally Schirra is a 689-foot cargo ship designed to provide More
Astronaut Robert L. Behnken used a digital camera to take this self-protrait during a spacewalk. Also visible in the visor's reflections are components of the station, the docked space shuttle Endeavour and a b More
If you're heading through America's Sunbelt this week, you might look out your car window to see driving alongside you a nearly 45-foot-long (13.7 m) rocket assembly. In the background are large, white vacuum s More
Unlike Earth the moon does not have air, food and water, so it would take a lot of effort for humans to live and work there, wrote Raina Huang, a student... NASA Identifier: 359733main_image_1384_full
This Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Pancam "super resolution" mosaic of the approximately 6 meter (20 foot) high cliff face of the Cape Verde promontory was taken by the rover from inside Victoria Crater, d More
The Hubble Space Telescope stands tall in the cargo bay of the space shuttle Atlantis following its capture on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. The STS-125 mission... NASA Identifier: 346724main_s125e007066_full
The STS-125 crew aboard space shuttle Atlantis captured this still image of the Hubble Space Telescope as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation... NASA Identifier: 350871main_s125e011810_hires_full
Solar panels on the Hubble Space Telescope make for unique window shades in this scene photographed from the flight deck of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle... NASA Identifier: 348984main_cockpit_full_full
Ground crews begin towing Space Shuttle Atlantis from the main runway at Edwards Air Force Base following its landing May 24, 2009, which concluded the... NASA Identifier: 351579main_image_1372_full
STS-125 mission specialist Michael Good is busy on Atlantis' middeck during his second day in space. The mission promises to be very busy for the entire... NASA Identifier: 346289main_s125e006452_full
This fish-eye camera lens view of the interior of the Apollo Lunar Module Mission Simulator at the Kennedy Space Center is one of several selected by... NASA Identifier: 358669main_image_1383-full_full
The space shuttle Atlantis' remote manipulator system arm lifts the Hubble Space Telescope from the cargo bay and is moments away from releasing the orbital... NASA Identifier: 349907main_s125e011774_full
In the darkened interior of NASA's SOFIA flying observatory, NASA and German scientists study the results of system tests on the telescope assembly, including... NASA Identifier: 360308main_image_1387_full
Astronaut Michael Good peers through a window toward Atlantis' crew cabin interior, where his shirt-sleeved support team members busy themselves to aid... NASA Identifier: 347628main_untitled_full
Astronaut John Grunsfeld performs work on the Hubble Space Telescope as the first of five STS-125 spacewalks kicks off a week's worth of work on the orbiting... NASA Identifier: 347029main_s125e007223_full
Atlantis and the crew of the STS-125 mission landed safely in California at Edwards Air Force Base after completing the Hubble Servicing Mission on Sunday,... NASA Identifier: 351266main_image_1370_full
The crew of space shuttle Atlantis gathered on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base at the successful conclusion of the STS-125 mission to upgrade the... NASA Identifier: 351387main_image_1371_full
Space shuttle Endeavour's drag chute unfurls in a kaleidoscope of color as the orbiter landed in darkness on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, bringing to end the STS-123 mission, a More
Tethered to the end of the remote manipulator system arm, which was controlled from inside Atlantis' crew cabin, STS-125 astronaut Andrew Feustel navigates... NASA Identifier: 347764main_s125e007853_full
I Zwicky 18's youthful appearance, resembling that of galaxies typically found only in the early universe, belies its true age. However, the Hubble telescope has found faint, older stars within this galaxy, sug More
This artist's concept illustrates how silicate crystals like those found in comets can be created by an outburst from a growing star. The image shows... NASA Identifier: 357821main_image_1381_full
Space shuttle Atlantis is shown suspended from a sling in the Mate-DeMate Device at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center during preparations for its ferry... NASA Identifier: 352244main_image_1375_full
Food, fuel and shelter: vegetation is one of the most important requirements for human populations around the world. Satellites monitor how "green" different parts of the planet are and how that greenness chang More
A bearded Walter Schirra, Apollo 7 commander, gazes out the rendezvous window in front of the commander's station on the ninth day of the Earth orbital mission. Apollo 7 was crewed by Donn Eisele and Walter Cun More
STS-125 astronaut Andrew Feustel selects his next tool to use while participating in the first of five scheduled spacewalks to perform final hands-on... NASA Identifier: 347491main_s125e007240_full
This artist's concept shows the smallest star known to host a planet. The planet, called VB 10b, was discovered using astrometry, a method in which the... NASA Identifier: 353921main_image_1377_full
Astronauts Michael Good (bottom) and Mike Massimino participate in the STS-125 mission's fourth spacewalk on May 17, 2009, as work continued to refurbish... NASA Identifier: 348350main_s125e008651_hires_full
In the 16th night landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Endeavour touches down on Runway 15 to end the STS-123 mission's nearly 16-day flight to the International Space Station. The landing was More
Probing a glowing bubble of gas and dust encircling a dying star, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals a wealth of previously unseen structures. The object, called NGC 2371, is a planetary nebula, the glowing More
Bob Peters, of Kendel Welding and Fabrication, welds part of an internal access support for the Ares I-X upper stage simulator at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. In 2009, NASA will launch Ares I-X, a More