Doppler radar installation in Arizona’s Empire Mountains, east of Tucson (Photo: Bill Morrow via Creative Commons/Flickr)

Curiosity takes a picture of its heat shield dropping away during its descent to the surface of Mars on Aug. 6, 2012 (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

A technician tests a component of the Curiosity rover’s ChemCam unit, which will help identify rock and soil targets on Mars. (Photo: LeRoy Sanchez/NNSA-USDOE)

The Hubble Space Telescope captured two spiral galaxies squaring off in the constellation of Virgo. When two galaxies collide, the stars that compose them usually do not, because galaxies are mostly empty space. (Photo: NASA)

View of the interior of the newly-attached Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) transfer vehicle  docked to the International Space Station. (Photo: NASA)

Participants of marine debris removal activities sit atop a mound of derelict fishing gear collected in Hawaii. (Photo: NOAA)

This “fossil” of an electrical discharge is created by striking a nail into a highly-charged block of acrylic where this captured lightning is stored.  These creations help scientists create a network of artificial blood vessels. (Photo: Bert Hickman, Stoneridge Engineering via NSF)

Hubble’s deepest view of the universe unveils never-before-seen galaxies (Photo: NASA)

Photo taken from the submersible Alvin of a hydrothermal vent – a break in the surface of the sea floor that spews water which has been heated by the underlying magma of the Axial volcano – some 480 km west of Cannon Beach, Oregon. (Photo: Mark Spear/WHOI via NSF)

Glassy powder being applied to a metal component. When the powder is fused with lasers, it forms a new super-durable coating that helps extend the life of tools that wear out quickly. (Photo:Oak Ridge National Laboratory)