Best Space Photos of the Week - April 21, 2012

Shuttle Discovery in Silhouette

collectSPACE/Ben Cooper

Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies into the sunrise above Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 17, 2012. The ferry flight, destined for Washington, D.C., marked the final departure for Discovery from its home for three decades. [More Images]

Space Zucchini's Orbital Life and Times Blogged by Astronaut

Don Pettit/NASA

A zucchini has taken up residence on the International Space Station. [Full Story]

Astronauts Bid Farewell to Space Shuttle Discovery

NASA

Former astronauts John Glenn and Bob Cabana posed for a historic picture on the flight deck of the space shuttle Discovery to bid farewell to the shuttle. They are two of the many astronauts saying goodbye to the iconic space plane. [Full Story]

Rare Photos: Discovery and Enterprise - 2 Space Shuttles Nose-to-Nose

NASA/Paul E. Alers

The noses of space shuttles Enterprise, left, and Discovery face one another at a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Chantilly, Va. [More Images]

Amazing Hubble Photo Reveals Tarantula Nebula's Star-Filled Web

NASA/ESA/ESO

Several million stars are vying for attention in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of a raucous stellar breeding ground in 30 Doradus, located in the heart of the Tarantula nebula. [Full Story]

Space Shuttle Closeup: Panoramic Photos Capture Discovery's Interior

Clara Moskowitz/SPACE.com

The space shuttle Discovery's flying days may be over, but a set of stunning new panoramic photos ensures that the space plane will remain fresh in people's minds for years to come. [Full Story]

See Inside Boeing's New Astronaut Taxi: The CST-100 Space Capsule

Denise Chow/SPACE.com

A full-size model of a new space capsule being built by Boeing to carry astronauts to the International Space Station offers a glimpse of how spaceflyers will be positioned inside the spacecraft. [Full Story]

High and Dry

ESO/B. Tafreshi/TWAN

The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope looks skyward during a moonlit night on Chajnantor Plateau in Chile, one of the highest and driest observatory sites in the world. On the left shines the tail of the constellation of Scorpius, the Scorpion. Across the sky stretches the plane of the Milky Way. Elsewhere in this photo, one can see the constellation of Sagittarius, The Archer, looming over APEX’s dish. Also, Messier 7 (AKA Ptolemy’s Cluster), Messier 6 (the Butterfly Cluster), and the Lagoon Nebula all appear here. Image released April 16, 2012. [More Images]

Lurker

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn's icy moon Enceladus floats below the gas giant's rings while another moon, Titan, lurks in the background, in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft on March 12, 2012. [More Images]

Shuttle Discovery Is Demated

NASA/Bill Ingalls

The space shuttle Discovery is suspended from a sling held by two cranes shortly after the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) was pushed back from underneath at Washington Dulles International Airport, Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Sterling, VA. [Full Story]

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.