World Space Week begins Oct 4, 2019

World Space Week begins

For the start of World Space Week, today"s homepage features a composite of images taken by NASA"s Juno probe as it swooped past Jupiter. The largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter also has the largest number of moons: 79. Jupiter is the Roman counterpart to Zeus, and the planet"s major moons are named after Zeus", shall we say, extra-marital partners. So, when it came time to name NASA"s most ambitious Jupiter probe, they decided to name it after Jupiter’s wife, Juno, so that she could keep an eye on him. Every 53 days in the course of its wide and complex orbit, the Juno probe makes its closest approach, snapping shots like these as it speeds past the gas giant in just two hours. World Space Week starts on the anniversary of the launch of the very first space probe, Sputnik, which entered orbit around the Earth on October 4, 1957.

© Enhanced image by Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran, CC BY-NC-SA, based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

palette

Today in History

Oct 4, 2018From Sputnik to extraterrestrial storms
Oct 4, 2020Infrared Jupiter, erupting Io
Oct 4, 2021Hey neighbor, it s World Space Week!
Oct 4, 2022World Space Week
Oct 4, 2023World Space Week
Oct 4, 2024World Space Week begins
Oct 4, 2025World Space Week

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jan 15, 2019A personal collection becomes an institution
Jun 8, 2023World Oceans Day
Dec 6, 2022Everglades National Park turns 75
May 27, 2025Mona Vale Rockpool, Sydney, Australia
Oct 19, 2024International Archaeology Day
Dec 24, 2019Dashing through the snow
Feb 17, 2020Happy Presidents Day
Nov 6, 2021World Numbat Day
Sep 15, 2024National Hispanic Heritage Month
Sep 26, 2019Kelp buddies
Sep 23, 2018Ahh-tumn
Jan 1, 2019New Year’s Day in the land of the rising sun
May 31, 2024Gunnerside, Yorkshire Dales National Park, England
May 19, 2025Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California
Jan 1, 2020Napping away New Year s Day
Sep 4, 2025Grizzly bears in Alaska for National Wildlife Day
Mar 9, 2021Spring comes to the Diablo foothills
Dec 1, 2025Antarctica Day
Apr 22, 2019Meet our fuzzy Earth Day mascot
Dec 25, 2024Merry Christmas!
Feb 4, 2022Winter Olympics in Beijing
Mar 25, 2024Happy Holi!
Dec 6, 2024Finnish Independence Day
Jan 19, 2021The ruins of a Maya superpower
Dec 30, 2024Mount Field National Park, Tasmania, Australia
Apr 21, 2021Exploring the Pearl of the Atlantic
Nov 1, 2020Native American Heritage Month
Dec 8, 2023La Rocque Harbour, Island of Jersey
Dec 7, 2019Remembering the Arizona
Dec 16, 2018Holidays in the Venetian Lagoon