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Astronaut Mike Fincke takes you on a tour of the International Space Station.

The Kepler spacecraft is designed to stare at one region of our Milky Way galaxy and capture images of any transits it sees. For more on the Kepler mission, visit www.nasa.gov/kepler

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, a Pittsburgh native, showed his true colors as he offered encouragement for the Pittsburgh Steelers in a downlink message from the station on Jan. 16, 2009. The Steelers will face the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII on February 1st in Tampa, Florida.

Moon Rover participates in Inaugural Parade

The Lunar Electric Rover was on display outside NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Headquarters employees and media were invited to view the vehicle and ask questions of the astronauts and engineers who have been involved in its design. Personnel also attended a briefing to learn more about this next generation concept vehicle. NASA is evaluating the Lunar Electric Rover for use when humans return to the moon. It is about the size of a pickup truck and has the ability to house two astronauts for as long as 14 days. The vehicle has many unique features, including the ability to move its six pairs of wheels in any combination of forward and sideways motions, enabling it to scramble over rough terrain. The Lunar Electric Rover was featured in the presidential inaugural parade on January 20, 2009.

NASA Television is honored with an Emmy award for lifetime achievement.

Hubble, the observatory, is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space, the ultimate mountaintop. Above the distortion of the atmosphere, far far above rain clouds and light pollution, Hubble has an unobstructed view of the universe. Scientists have used Hubble to observe the most distant stars and galaxies as well as the planets in our solar system

NASA Television recently received an Emmy award for lifetime achievement. This is the video that was played at the ceremony in Nashville.

NASA Television is honored with an Emmy award for lifetime achievement.

Astronaut Mike Fincke takes you on a tour of the International Space Station.

Astronaut Mike Fincke takes you on a tour of the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts who recently returned from a trip to the International Space Station joined representatives from across the country and the nation's armed forces in the 56th Inaugural Parade. The NASA contingent included a next-generation lunar rover that astronauts will use for future exploration of the moon. The parade traveled down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Jan. 20 following swearing-in ceremonies for President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden. Many of the participating astronauts -- Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe, mission specialists Donald Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff -- flew on space shuttle Endeavour in November 2008 on the STS-126 mission. Astronaut Mike Gernhardt drove the rover while Astronaut Rex Walheim road beside him. The Lunar Electric Rover is a concept vehicle about the size of a pickup truck that NASA is evaluating for use when humans return to the moon. It can house two astronauts for as long as 14 days. The vehicle has many unique features, including the ability to move its six pairs of wheels in any combination of forward and sideways motions, enabling it to scramble over rough terrain.

Astronaut Mike Fincke takes you on a tour of the International Space Station.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is part of NASA's fleet of "Great Observatories" along with the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitizer Space Telescope and the now deorbited Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Chandra allows scientists from around the world to obtain unprecedented X-ray images of exotic environments to help understand the structure and evolution of the universe. Already surpassing its five-year life, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is rewriting textbooks and helping advance technology.

The Mars Exploration Rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity" were sent to Mars for what was planned to be a 90 day mission. 5 years later they are still roving the surface of Mars, making new discoveries almost every day. This video celebrates the extraordinary success of these "Intrepid Explorers".

NASA scientists have discovered methane on Mars. Scientists are not yet sure what is creating this gas, but the explanation could be biological or geological

NASA's THEMIS mission has overturned a longstanding belief about the interaction between solar particles and Earth's magnetic field.

Artists sketch the Space Shuttle.

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineers Sandy Magnus and Yury Lonchakov downlinked a message on Dec. 29, 2008. From their vantage point 220 miles above the Earth, the crew members expressed their year-end thoughts on the significance of the international outpost and their new year's wish for the complex in 2009. The crew also shared their wish for peace in the language of all of the countries represented in the space station partnership.

Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov conducted a five hour, 38 minute spacewalk in Russian spacesuits on Dec. 22, 2008. The spacewalk included work to fasten and retrieve a series of materials sciences experiments on the Russian Zvezda service module and attach a probe to the Pirs Docking Compartment airlock. The probe measures electromagnetic activity around the Russian segment of the station believed to have contributed to problems with pyrotechnic bolts that allow the sections of the Soyuz spacecraft to separate during its return to Earth.

Gamma rays, the highest energy form of light, are produced by the hottest regions of the universe: supernova explosions, black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. NASAs Fermi spacecraft orbits about 300 miles above Earth, scanning and imaging for gamma rays that scientists say hold answers to how the universe works. For more info: www.nasa.gov/missions

NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity may still have big achievements ahead as they approach the fifth anniversaries of their memorable landings on Mars. Spirit landed safely on Jan. 3, 2004, and Opportunity followed suit three weeks later. The twin rovers have worked 20 times longer than their expected warranties and made important discoveries about wet and tumultuous environments on Mars. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers

Archival footage shows the Apollo astronauts viewpoint during their moon landing in 1971

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) is an orbiting space telescope observing galaxies in ultraviolet light across 10 billion years of cosmic history. A Pegasus rocket launched GALEX into orbit at 8 a.m. EDT on April 28th, 2003. Although originally planned as a 29-month mission, the NASA Senior Review Panel in 2006 recommended that the mission lifetime be extended.