Virginia Norwood sits at the Storm Detector Radar Set at the Army Signal Corps Laboratories in New Jersey in a photo displayed at the Institute for Radio Engineers Convention, Spring 1950. Virginia Norwood via NASA hide caption
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A portrait of Tyre Nichols is displayed at a memorial service for him on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols was killed during a traffic stop with Memphis Police on Jan. 7. Adrian Sainz/AP hide caption
Jupiter, the brightest spot near the middle of this image, will be a standout this week. Mariana Suarez/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
NASA Small-Body Database shows the orbits of the Earth, moon and asteroid 2023 DZ2. NASA/Screenshot by NPR hide caption
The Terran 1 rocket, made largely of 3D-printed metal parts, launched successfully but failed to reach orbit on Wednesday. Trevor Mahlmann/Relativity Space hide caption
The Milky Way's Galactic Center and Jupiter (brightest spot at center top) are seen from near Reboledo, department of Florida, Uruguay, early on August 24, 2020. Mariana Suarez/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
An artist's vision of the first interstellar object discovered in the solar system, 'Oumuamua. ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESO, M. Kornmesser hide caption
Scientists think they know why interstellar object 'Oumuamua moved so strangely
When Geoff Brumfiel asked an AI software for rocket schematics, he got interesting results. Like these Saturn V-inspired renderings. NPR staff generated imagery using Midjourney hide caption
This computer-generated 3D model of Venus' surface shows the summit of Maat Mons, the volcano that is exhibiting signs of activity. A new study found one of Maat Mons' vents became enlarged and changed shape over an eight-month period in 1991, indicating an eruptive event occurred. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
This computer-generated 3D model of Venus' surface shows the summit of Maat Mons. A new study found one of the volcano's vents became bigger and changed during 1991. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
Volcanic activity on Venus spotted in radar images, scientists say
Expedition 68 Flight Engineers, pictured clockwise from left, Anna Kikina of Roscosmos, Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann from NASA, and Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) gather for a portrait inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module on March 1. NASA via AP hide caption
As more robots and people travel to the moon in coming years, some researchers believe it's time to set a lunar time standard. NASA Johnson hide caption
If daylight saving time seems tricky, try figuring out the time on the moon
Computer-simulated image of a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy. NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute hide caption
This imagery from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows the debris blasted from the surface of Dimorphos 285 hours after NASA's DART spacecraft smashed into the asteroid's surface. NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble hide caption
Astronomers still have their eyes on that asteroid NASA whacked
A fighter jet flies near a large balloon drifting above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina near Myrtle Beach, Feb. 4. Minutes later, the balloon was struck by a missile from an F-22 fighter jet, ending its weeklong traverse over the United States. China said the balloon was a weather research vessel blown off course, a claim rejected by U.S. officials. Chad Fish/AP hide caption
This timed exposer shows the trail as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the companys Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off from pad 39A for the Crew-6 mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, early on March 2, 2023. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Venus and Jupiter, in a rare conjunction, seem close even though they are 400 million miles apart. Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Members of Crew-6 — (L-R) Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, Sultan Al-Neyadi of the United Arab Emirates, and NASA astronauts Warren Hoburg and Stephen Bowen — pose after arriving at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on February 21, 2023 in Florida. Each of their flight suits has numerous patches - including one designed specifically for this mission to the International Space Station. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Every space crew needs a mission patch. This company has designed NASA's for 50 years
These images provided by NASA and the European Space Agency show six candidate massive galaxies, seen 500 million to 800 million years after the Big Bang. NASA via AP hide caption
The Soyuz MS-22 rocket is launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos onboard, on Sept. 21, 2022, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA/Bill Ingalls hide caption
A NASA balloon launched over Hawaii in 2014 to test components that might one day be used to land spacecraft on Mars. Balloons are regularly used to test new designs and conduct scientific experiments. Bill Rodman/NASA hide caption