Celebrating Flag Day on June 14, 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly took this photograph in the cupola of the International Space Station. via NASA http://ift.tt/1BdxxNe

The sphere of space surrounding our galaxy is known as the Local Volume, a region some 35 million light-years in diameter and home to several hundred known galaxies. The subject of this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, a beautiful dwarf irregular galaxy known as PGC 18431, is one of these galaxies. via NASA http://ift.tt/1L54nTr

The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts of NASA, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from the European Space Agency (ESA) near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, June 11, 2015. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Kwxw90

This galaxy, known as NGC 6503, has found itself in a lonely position, at the edge of a strangely empty patch of space called the Local Void. via NASA http://ift.tt/1KVKpau

Like most moons in the solar system, Tethys is covered by impact craters. Some craters bear witness to incredibly violent events, such as the crater Odysseus (seen here at the right of the image). The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 11, 2015. via NASA http://ift.tt/1B0azJc

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti checks her Sokol pressure suit in preparation for the Expedition 43 crew’s departure from the International Space Station after 6 1/2 months in space. Cristoforetti now holds the record for the longest single spaceflight for a woman, a record previously held by NASA astronaut Sunita Williiams. via NASA http://ift.tt/1RYsEf5

The HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a “fresh” (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars on March 30, 2015. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta. via NASA http://ift.tt/1H8Lm0g

This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19, on June 4, 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth’s weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White’s historic spacewalk on June 3. via NASA http://ift.tt/1czMbCq

For 50 years, NASA has been “suiting up” for spacewalking. In this Feb. 7, 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first “field” tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). via NASA http://ift.tt/1K9NJRo

Surveyor 1, the first of the Surveyor missions to make a successful soft landing, proved the validity of the spacecraft’s design and landing technique. In addition to transmitting more than 11,000 pictures, Surveyor sent information on the bearing strength of the lunar soil, the radar reflectivity and temperature. via NASA http://ift.tt/1I9sRr5