The best photos on the space theme for 2011
For the space industry in 2011 was a year of farewells: to complete the space shuttle program ended with the rover's mission is "Spirit", and was sent to the new rover mission ...
In this photograph, taken by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli from the spacecraft "Soyuz" space shuttle visible "Endeavour" docked to the ISS. It was the only opportunity to photograph the orbit station and shuttle. (Paolo Nespoli / NASA / ESA)
Hillary Livingston adds the finishing touches to a model of a lunar base in the exhibition "Beyond Earth" at the Museum of Natural History in New York. This exhibition will be brought back to life the dream of colonizing the Moon and Mars.
Cars approaching the landing place of the Russian "Soyuz" in northern Kazakhstan, November 22. The capsule to Earth with the ISS, NASA astronaut Michael profit Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa Japanese astronaut.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly on board a Russian helicopter, after landing, "the Union". He wore a blue bracelet with the inscription "Gabby" in honor of their daughter Gabrielle Giffords wounded. Kelly and his colleagues returned to the ISS on March 16. Twin brother, Scott, Mark Kelly - Gabrielle Giffords husband. Scott and Mark - the only twin NASA astronauts. Mark Kelly resigned in October.
Photo of asteroid Vesta from NASA spacecraft Dawn. The probe entered orbit around Vesta on July 16 and within a year will have to observe. Scientists discuss the origin of the circular structure on the surface - a collision with another asteroid or internal processes?
Meteor in the sky above the park Ffrench Creek, Pennsylvania, October 22, 2011.
"Galaxy antennas" NGC 4038 in the constellation of Corvus, 70 million light-years away. Snapshot of combined training with the Hubble Space Telescope and ALMA radio telescope in Chile.
Take off the heavy rocket Boeing Delta 4 Heavy from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, January 27. The rocket will orbit a spy satellite of the National military space of U.S. intelligence.
During the outbreak of the L-3.6 on the Sun near the surface of the plasma mass arose, which writhed and spun for 90 minutes on February 24. Shot using the dynamics Soltsa Observatory. Part of the substance flew into space, the rest fell back to the surface of the star.
Four moons of Saturn near the planet, the picture with Orbiter "Cassini", October 24. Bright Dione in the foreground, and Titan - on the back. Point to the right of the Rings - Pandora and Pan - a small spark on the background of the rings to the left of Titan and Dione.
Norwegian photographer Tommy Eliassen took this unique photo September 25, 2011. It can be seen at the same time the Milky Way, Northern Lights and the falling meteor. This year, auroras were observed frequently.
Divers assist astronauts during tranirovki in the pool training center Star City near Moscow, on February 18.
Rise of the shuttle "Endeavour" on 16 May, board passenger flight from New York to Palm Beach, Florida.
Photo from the ISS on September 17. Two docked to the station and the Russian ship "southern" lights.
Greg Chamitoff, NASA astronaut holding the handrail during the fourth exit of team members "Endeavour" on the ISS in open space. 7 hours and 24 minutes in open space, Chamitoff and Michael Fincke (visible in the reflection on the helmet) made an inspection of the bottom station, officially ending U.S. involvement in its construction.
Astronaut Janet Kavandi conducts a tour of one of the halls of the Kennedy Space Center for Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia, 29 April 2011. The President and his family had hoped to see the latest launch of shuttle "Endeavour", but it was postponed due to technical problems. Launching the shuttle "Atlantis" July 30 was the last in the 30-year-old program "space shuttle".
Spar King of Armarillo, Texas, is sleeping on the roof of cars waiting for shuttle launch "Atlantis", July 8, 2011.
NASA employees are watching take-off "Atlantis" in the control room 4 at Kennedy Space Center on July 8, 2011.
Spectators watching the flight of "Atlantis."
Space Shuttle "Atlantis" returned to Earth. The picture from the ISS on 21 July 2011.
A night landing. 'Atlantis' landing strip at Kennedy Space Center, July 21.
A laser beam from the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory excites sodium atoms in the mesosphere, which leads to the formation of a luminous point. This point to an observer on the ground looks like a star and is used to calibrate the telescope's optical system.
Star-forming cloud NGC 281 in Cassiopeia got the nickname "Pacman Nebula" because of its "teeth" that reminded astronomers of the 1980s video game called Pac-Man. In fact, "teeth" - huge pillars of interstellar dust.
NASA technology close to the shell, which protects the rover "Curiosity" of high temperature when entering the Martian atmosphere. Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA, Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, April 4, 2011. The rover will land on Mars in August 2012.
Martian sand dunes, spectrozonal picture with high resolution camera aboard NASA's Orbiter. Dunes along the edges of the hills look like centipedes legs. This is another example pareydoly, visual illusions such as the famous "face on Mars" - the human brain interprets the image as having a clear sense of it or a familiar object.
Simulated mission to Mars. "Touchdown" was held on February 14 and subsequent days the team carried out three to the surface. The surface of Mars showed a giant sandbox, built inside a research institute in Moscow. This simulation has become one of the most important events of 520-day experiment designed to learn how to behave like members of a real mission to Mars in terms of psychological stress and long-term isolation.
The picture with the Hubble Space Telescope, which was published on December 15. A polarized region of star formation is similar to a snow angel. The "wings" recorded a high temperature and movement, in contrast to the cold and calm the central part. From the star at the center of mass of the two diverge hot gas. A ring of dust around the star pulls a cloud, giving it an hourglass shape.
Moon from the ISS, October 21, 2011. The original record in Twitter: "Beautiful Moon, a good start off."
The new Virgin America A320 aircraft flying close to the rocket ship SpaceShipTwo and its carrier over the Golden Gate Bridge, 6 April 2011. Aircraft landed at the international airport of San Francisco, thus introducing into service a new terminal worth 388 million dollars.
The fiery birth of new stars in the image of the galaxy Centaurus A, the Hubble Space Telescope photos, published on June 16.
Technology to service the 76-meter dish antenna telescope Lowell, June 21, Holmes Chapel, England.
The picture from the satellite on December 8. Chinese aircraft carrier Shi Lang (aka aircraft carrier "Varyag") in the Yellow Sea, 100 km south-southeast of the port of Dalian, China.
