[img=http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-04.ss_full.jpg] Hanging on NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff holds a handrail during the fourth spacewalk conducted by the shuttle Endeavour's crew at the International Space Station. During the seven-hour, 24-minute spacewalk on May 27, Chamitoff and astronaut Michael Fincke (visible in the reflections of Chamitoff's helmet visor) moved a 50-foot-long inspection boom to the station, officially completing U.S. station assembly. [img=http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-07.ss_full.jpg] Last liftoff NASA managers watch from Firing Room Four of the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center as the space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Launch Pad 39A on July 8. [img=http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-09.ss_full.jpg] Back to Earth The space shuttle Atlantis blazes a trail back home through the atmosphere in this photograph, captured by the crew aboard the International Space Station on July 21. Airglow over Earth can be seen on the horizon.

[img=http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-10.ss_full.jpg] Night landing The space shuttle Atlantis glides down from a moonlit sky to the runway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21. Atlantis' touchdown marked the end of a 30-year odyssey for NASA's shuttle fleet. [img=http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-11.ss_full.jpg] On the beam A glowing laser shines forth from the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope in Chile, in a picture captured by ESO Photo Ambassador Gerhard Hdepohl. [img=http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-13.ss_full.jpg] Getting the rover ready NASA engineers stand by a conical shell that will help protect the Curiosity rover, a robot the size of a car, from the searing temperatures of atmospheric entry when it lands on Mars next year. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in November and is due to land on Mars in August 2012.

[img=http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-16.ss_full.jpg] Celestial snow angel The bipolar star-forming region called Sharpless 2-106, or S106 for short, looks like a soaring, celestial snow angel in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, released Dec. 15. The outstretched "wings" of the nebula record the contrasting imprint of heat and motion against the backdrop of a colder medium. Twin lobes of super-hot gas, glowing blue in this image, stretch outward from the central star. A ring of dust and gas orbiting the star acts like a belt, cinching the expanding nebula into an hourglass shape. [img=http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-21.ss_full.jpg] Galactic firestorm The fiery birth of stars is chronicled in this view of the galaxy Centaurus A, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on June 16. [img=http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-23.ss_full.jpg] Groovy view of Vesta This image obtained by the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta. The probe entered orbit around Vesta on July 16 for a year's worth of observations.

[img=http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-25.ss_full.jpg] Colorful crash The Antennae are a pair of colliding galaxies about 70 million light-years away in the constellation Corvus. This color-coded image, released Oct. 3, combines views from the Hubble Space Telescope and the newly inaugurated ALMA radio telescope array in Chile. [img=http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-27.ss_full.jpg] Monster blast from the sun When an M-3.6-class flare occurred near the edge of the sun, it blew out a gorgeous, waving mass of erupting plasma that swirled and twisted over a 90-minute period on Feb. 24. Some of the material blew out into space, and other portions fell back to the surface.

[img=http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-28.ss_full.jpg] Quartet of moons Four Saturnian moons, from tiny to huge, make an appearance amid the planet's rings in this composition from the Cassini orbiter, released Oct. 24. Bright Dione is in the foreground, with Titan in the background. The dot just to the right of Saturn's nearly edge-on rings is Pandora, and Pan is just a speck embedded within the rings, to the left of Titan and Dione. [img=http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-29.ss_full.jpg] Lights, camera, action Norwegian photographer Tommy Eliason captured this amazing view of the northern lights, the Milky Way and a meteor streaking across the sky over Ifjord, Norway, on Sept. 25. [img=http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-111221-yisp/ss-111221-yisp-32.ss_full.jpg] The glow below A picture taken from the International Space Station on Sept. 17 shows two docked Russian spacecraft with the southern lights below. The auroral display is caused by the interaction between solar particles and Earth's magnetic field.

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