It's Full of Stars

This image of Earth (on the left) and the moon (on the right) was taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on Aug. 26, 2011, when the spacecraft was about 6 million miles (9.66 million kilometers) away. It was taken by the spacecraft’s onboard camera, JunoCam. The solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Aug. 5 to begin a five-year journey to Jupiter.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 

Rolling Across the Rocky Plains of Mars
Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA

Explanation: You stare out across the rocky plains of Mars. Before you, in every direction, is dark sand and bright rock. Although little has changed here for millions of years, no one has ever seen this view before. You are being sent on a long journey to a distant crater, the largest crater in the region. Your human overlords back on planet Earth wonder if the impact that created this distant crater might have also uncovered unique clues to the distant past of Earth’s neighboring planet, clues that might reveal if life ever existed here. Breaking themonotony, visible toward the image center, an unusual rock sticks out from the landscape. Quite possibly, this rock is not from this world, and you divert to inspect it. You are the robotic Opportunity rover, and you are the eyes for countless humans following your trek back on planet Earth. Rolling about a football field a day, you might reach Endeavour crater sometime in 2012. If you survive.

Some more info on Saturn’s newly discovered giant ring at NASA’s website.

It’s Bring Your Child to Work Day at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory!

Here, a child pokes out holes to make their own constellation inside a giant plastic “planetarium”. Just one of many activities NASA is using to engage young minds and promote science and astronomy in schools.

Image credit: Veronica McGregor on Twitter

NASA/JPL’s Orbital Carbon Observatory is ready to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. You can follow along live here.