Best Space Photos of the Week – July 26, 2015

Kepler exoplanet discovery

SETI Institute/Danielle Futselaar

NASA's Kepler space telescope has spotted more than 500 new potential alien planets, including a dozen that may be capable of supporting life as we know it — and one confirmed world that's among the most Earth-like planets yet discovered. [Read the full story.]

New Pluto photos

NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Stunning new images of Pluto by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft show flowing ices, a complicated surface covered in mountain ranges and a surprisingly far-reaching atmosphere. [Read the full story.]

Our Blue Marble

NASA

NASA released the first image of the sunlit side of Earth taken by the Deep Space Climate Observatory spacecraft from its final science orbit, and the beautiful photo has already made quite an impact. [Read the full story.]

Curiosity offers early warning

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Texas A&M University

Brewing sunspots on the invisible side of the sun eventually make their way around and can cause space weather, so this is a cool early warning! [Read the full story.]

Pluto's frozen heart

NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

The mysterious face of Pluto is beginning to yield some of its secrets in this stunning false-color image from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which scientists can use to detect subtle differences in the dwarf planet's surface, including its icy "heart." [Read the full story.]

Star Trek can enrich your life

CORBIS

If you're weary of the rat race, some ideas from Captain Kirk and Captain Picard could help you get out of it earlier. [Read the full story.]

Pluto's big heart

NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Pluto has a big heart — big enough to accommodate at least two sets of mountains, a new photo from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reveals. [Read the full story.]

Details on two of Pluto's moons

NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

New photos captured by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its historic Pluto flyby last week reveal intriguing new details about Nix and Hydra, two of the dwarf planet's five satellites. [Read the full story.]

A new crew for the ISS

NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched the next crew to the International Space Station, a mission that was delayed after an unmanned rocket failure. [Read the full story.]

New satellite launched

United Launch Alliance

ULA launched a U.S. military satellite aboard an Atlas IV rocket. [Read the full story.]

Save the suit!

Smithsonian

The Smithsonian launched its first-ever crowdfunding campaign in an effort to preserve, conserve and display the spacesuit that Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong wore while becoming the first man to walk on the moon. [Read the full story.]

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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.