See related story: Universe Looks Good From Here
A proposed space elevator carries explorers and supplies to vehicles stationed 36,000 kilometers above the Earth's equator in this digital rendering by artist Pat Rawlings. Scientists and engineers are currently discussing the feasibility of building such an elevator.
Copyright NASA
Artist Michael Carroll helped launch the International Association of Astronomical Artists, a collective of amateur and professional painters and designers who specialize in space art.
Courtesy of Michael Carroll
NASA commissioned this painting by Pat Rawlings to promote a mission to Pluto and its moon Charon. The image serves as a reminder that no spacecraft has ever studied Pluto up close.
Copyright NASA
Artist Michael Carroll based many details of this scene of Neptune's moon Triton on the landscape he saw while visiting volcanoes in Iceland.
Courtesy of Michael Carroll
Launched in 1977, the Voyager 2 spacecraft has yet to reach the outer edges of our solar system, estimated to be about 9 billion miles away from Earth. When it does, it will pass through a turbulent boundary between the solar wind and the flow of the interstellar medium, in what is known as "termination shock." This passage is shown here in a painting by artist Pat Rawlings.
Copyright NASA
Pat Rawlings has made a career of creating space art -- the surreal yet technically accurate images of astronauts and spacecraft exploring newfound landscapes.
Courtesy of Pat Rawlings
The European Space Agency's Huygens space probe parachutes through the thick atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon Titan in this digital rendering by artist Pat Rawlings.
Copyright NASA
