International Space Station is seen over a blue and white Earth, taken shortly after the Space Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the orbital outpost. NASA via Getty Images hide caption
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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft onboard from Space Launch Complex 4E, at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Calif. Bill Ingalls/AP hide caption
An illustration of the DART spacecraft approaching two asteroids; it will crash into the smaller one to try to change how this space rock orbits its larger companion. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben hide caption
In a first test of its planetary defense efforts, NASA's going to shove an asteroid
This illustration shows NASA's DART spacecraft and the Italian Space Agency's (ASI) LICIACube prior to impact at the Didymos binary system. NASA/Johns Hopkins, APL/Steve Gribben hide caption
The earth's shadow covers the full moon during a partial lunar eclipse as it sets beyond city hall, Friday, Nov. 19, in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins waves at the audience during the astronaut graduation ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in January 2020. In April 2022, she will become the first Black woman to live and work on the International Space Station. Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The super blood moon rises over a residential area in New Delhi during a total lunar eclipse in May. Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The International Space Station shown in orbit in 2011. Astronauts aboard the station were ordered to briefly take shelter after Russia conducted an orbital test of an anti-satellite missile that spewed potentially dangerous debris into orbit. NASA/Getty Images hide caption
Glen de Vries was among four passengers on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on Oct. 13. De Vries, 49, and Thomas P. Fischer, 54, died in crash of a single-engine plane that went down Thursday in a wooded area of Hampton Township, N.J. LM Otero/AP hide caption
Astronauts, from left, Tom Marshburn, Matthias Maurer, of Germany, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron wave as they leave the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to Launch Pad 39-A on Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center. John Raoux/AP hide caption
NASA's ambitions for putting astronauts on the moon have been delayed. Here, newly minted astronauts from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency are seen last year. They're the first candidates to graduate under the Artemis program, and could be eligible for assignments including the Artemis missions to the Moon, International Space Station, and missions to Mars. Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
This new perspective of Jupiter from the south makes the Great Red Spot appear as though it is in northern territory. This view is unique to Juno. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstäd/Seán Doran © CC NC SA hide caption
In Jupiter's swirling Great Red Spot, NASA spacecraft finds hidden depths
In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts in the SpaceX Dragon capsule undock from the International Space Station on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. AP hide caption
The Crew Dragon space capsule astronauts, from front left, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. John Raoux/AP hide caption
Technicians work on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which will launch in December. Astronomers say the next big telescope should be designed to search signs of life on planets that orbit distant stars. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
A golden record is attached to a Voyager space probe launched in 1977. It contains a selection of recordings of life and culture on Earth and was place on their in case the probe went beyond the solar system, which it has. Space Frontiers/Getty Images hide caption
NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough checks Hatch chile plants growing on the International Space Station earlier this year. NASA hide caption
The moon shines over radio antennas at the operations support facility of one of the worlds largest astronomy projects, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in the Atacama desert in northern Chile in this 2012 photo. Jorge Saenz/AP hide caption
The northern lights can be seen from the Cameron River viewpoint off the Ramparts Falls trail on the Ingraham Trail near Yellowknife, Canada. VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
In 2019, the Parkes radio telescope in Parkes, Australia, detected a strange signal that has since been explained. Yury Prokopenko/Getty Images hide caption
Before each mission with NASA astronauts, the Shelton family sends a bouquet of roses to the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. James Blair/NASA hide caption
Astronaut launches are returning to the U.S. For each, this family sends NASA roses
TED Radio Hour: Erika Hamden Ryan Lash/Ryan Lash / TED hide caption
The Voyager spacecraft have ventured far outside our solar system. Now a team of scientists is hoping to take the next interstellar mission even farther. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
If NASA greenlights this interstellar mission, it could last 100 years
Orbital Reef is a new commercial space station that Blue Origin says will be operational by the end of the decade. It's seen here in a promotional photo released by the company. Blue Origin hide caption