A crew of U.S. and Russian astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station early Friday morning after launching from a facility in Kazakhstan. The Russian Soyuz launched at 2:25 a.m. Friday local time carryingthe first female Russian cosmonaut to serve on the ISS, one Russian man and one American astronaut. It docked about six hours later. NASA’s Barry Wilmore and Russians Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova are set to serve a six-month stint at the station. They'll join three...

Satellite View of Fall Colors NASA’s Terra satellite captured this view of fall colors around the Great Lakes on Sept. 26, 2014. (Jeff Schmaltz at NASA GSFC) Of all the leaf peepers among us, the folks at NASA win. They have the best views and can take them all in at once. These photos, taken by satellite last week. show the bands of reds and oranges around the Great Lakes. (MORE: When Will Leaves Hit Peak Color In Your Area?)...

The second total lunar eclipse of the year is coming, and there's a good chance you'll be able to see it– if the weather cooperates. It's expected to peak before dawn on Wednesday, Oct. 8, and will be visible from almost everywhere in North America, Sky and Telescope reports. (MORE: 2014-15 Winter Storm Names Released) (SkyandTelescope.com Photo) "It promises to be a stunning sight, even from the most light polluted cities,"said NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak in a Red Orbit...

(Mike Malaska, NASA ) NASA just served up a cool reminder of mankind's space accomplishments in the past few decades, and it's only going to get more impressive in the next month. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory compiled a convenient look at some of the highlights of space exploration over the last four decades in a photo compilation that shows the surfaces of various planets, moons and other extraterrestrial objects. The photo (above) shows the differences between various surfaces across the...

Last seen from Earth back in the spring of 1986, Halley's Comet "returns" later this month —or least parts of it will. The comet, whose orbit in the solar system brings it past our planet about every 75 to 76 years, leaves a trail of dust and debris behind that forms a meteor shower over our skies twice each year. Those particles pose no danger to anyone on Earth —though they're made from ice and rock vaporized by the intense...

With the exception of a few highly trained astronauts and engineers, most of us could only dream about breaching Earth’s orbit. NASA wants to change that in its next series of missions. No, you can’t call shotgun on the Orion spacecraft launching Dec. 4, but now you can send a part of yourself to break the final frontier. (MORE:Nine Space Discoveries We've Already Made in 2014) Until Oct. 31, you can register for a “boarding pass” that’ll get your name...

This combination of images of the sun looks oddly like a Jack-O-Lantern. (NASA) Looks like the solar system is getting into the Halloween spirit. Just in time for the most terrifying night of the year, NASA has released an incredible image of the fiery surface of the sunlooking eerily like a Tim Burton-style Jack-O-Lantern, Time reports. (MORE: NASA Prepares for Mars Comet Flyby) The photo is actually made up of thousands of images taken on October 8 by the Scientific...

Alyssa Carson may only be 13 years old, but this astronaut-in-training wants to join the ranks of other famous people in space, like Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. She is determined to be the first person to set foot on Mars. (MORE: One Haunting Photo) The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, teenager told the BBC, “It is really deserted up there right now, so I want to take the first step.” She’s already on her way to making a name for herself...

Sydney, Australia A girl adjusts a telescope to focus the reflected image of a partial solar eclipse in front of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge on May 10, 2013. (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images) Get your pinhole projectors and welders' goggles ready. North Americans are in for a treat Thursday as the new moon is set to partially block out the sunand provide an afternoon lightshow, known as a partial solar eclipse. Nearly all of North America, save for portions of far...

Get your pinhole projectors and welders' goggles ready. North Americans are in for a treat Thursday as the new moon is set to partially block out the sunand provide an afternoon lightshowknown as a partial solar eclipse. Nearly all of North America–save for portions of far eastern Canada and the northeastern-most U.S.–will be able to witness the eclipse, according to Space.com. EarthSkyexplains that a solar eclipse is caused by the new moon passing between the Earth and the sun. In...

Last week, six people entered a two-story, 1,500-square-foot dome on the slopes of Hawaii's Mauna Loa. For the next eight months, they'll have to wear a spacesuit when they leave the dome, and their primary contact with the outside world will be limited to email, to which they'll have to wait 40 minutes for a response. Why? To train for what conditions would be like on Mars, so scientists can learn how humans respond to the isolation and social effects...

SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship returned to Earth on Saturday after a month-long supply mission at the International Space Station, NBC News reports. The unmanned capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 300 miles west of Baja, California, carrying over 3,000 pounds of returned gear and experiments, according to CNN. (MORE:Stunning Satellite Images) The gumdrop-shaped Dragon capsule blasted off on September 21st aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, NBC News Reports. The spacecraft...