On Oct. 18, 1989, space shuttle Atlantis deployed NASA’s Galileo spacecraft six hours, 30 minutes into the STS-34 mission. Galileo arrived at Jupiter in December, 1995 and spent eight years in orbit around the gas giant, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit an outer planet. via NASA https://ift.tt/2CQtRXt

This artist’s conception of the core of Cygnus A shows the dusty donut-shaped surroundings, called a torus, and jets launching from its center. via NASA https://ift.tt/2P0z3hl

Viewed from a window inside the cupola, the International Space Station’s “window to the world,” is the Japanese Exploration Agency’s H-II Transfer Vehicle-7. via NASA https://ift.tt/2CNoDvQ

The little-known nebula IRAS 05437+2502 billows out among the bright stars and dark dust clouds that surround it. via NASA https://ift.tt/2N6kacc

Guy Bluford, the first African-American astronaut, launched into space on shuttle Challenger’s STS-8 mission thirty-five years ago, on August 30, 1983. via NASA https://ift.tt/2PkZv1t

An expedition that will help NASA search for life in deep space launched today – not with a rocket’s roar, but with a gentle splash into the deep Pacific Ocean. The project will use underwater robots to explore the environment around a deep-sea volcano off the coast of Hawaii that has similar conditions to what may exist on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. via NASA https://ift.tt/2LCZDaj

Astronauts get to observe the Earth in all her beauty from aboard the International Space Station. A member of the Expedition 56 crew currently onboard the station took this nighttime image of Java, Indonesia’s largest island. via NASA https://ift.tt/2wnzAiL

Striking atmospheric features in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere are captured in this series of color-enhanced images from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. via NASA https://ift.tt/2NnBjLx

Even if the air looks clear, it is nearly certain that you will inhale millions of solid particles and liquid droplets. These ubiquitous specks of matter are known as aerosols, and they can be found in the air over oceans, deserts, mountains, forests, ice and every ecosystem in between. via NASA https://ift.tt/2OYs9p0

The world is on fire. Or so it appears in this image from NASA’s Worldview. via NASA https://ift.tt/2o4ifa9