Space exploration 2011

NASA marked the final launch of its 30-year-old space shuttle program but sent unmanned missions elsewhere, including Mars and Jupiter. Other nations also continued their interplanetary explorations.

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This image of the asteroid Vesta was captured by the Dawn spacecraft from 3,200 miles away. Dawn entered orbit around Vesta on July 15 and will spend a year orbiting the body. The next stop on Dawn's itinerary will be the dwarf planet Ceres.

NASA/JPL / via AP

An undated image shows a rippled dune in the Herschel Crater on Mars. The dune has moved an average of two yards from March 3, 2007, to Dec. 1, 2010. Observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal that the planet's sandy surface is more dynamic than previously thought.

/ NASA via AP

A southward-looking view of the Gale Crater on Mars shows a mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate.

/ NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/UA

The high-resolution imaging science experiment camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals portions of the Martian surface in unprecedented detail. This image shows channels from three to 33 feet wide on a scarp in the Hellas impact basin.

NASA / via AP

The Mars rover Opportunity is poised to reach the rim of a vast crater to begin a fresh round of exploration. Opportunity outlasted its twin, Spirit, to continue research in July.

NASA/JPL / via AP

An artist's rendering of the Mars Science Laboratory, a.k.a. Curiosity. The sedan-size rover can analyze rocks and soil with unprecedented accuracy and is expected to reach Mars in August 2012.

NASA / via Reuters

In a photo released by Moscow's Institute for Medical and Biological Problems, Russian researcher Sukhrob Kamolov exits a set of windowless modules after a 520-day simulation of a flight to Mars. Kamolov was among an international all-male crew to successfully complete the experiment.

Oleg Voloshin / Pool

NASA's Stardust craft snapped this image of comet Tempel 1, which is half the size of Manhattan. At nearest approach, Stardust passed within 112 miles of the icy body.

NASA/JPL/ Caltech/Cornell / via AP

Photos from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory show before-and-after comparisons of comet Tempel 1, which was struck by the Deep Impact spacecraft in 2005. The left image is a composite from July 2005. The other image -- taken by the Stardust spacecraft -- has arrows identifying the rim of a crater, estimated to be 500 feet in diameter, caused by the impact.

NASA/JPL/CALTECH/CORNELL / AP

This image of the Debussy Crater on Mercury shows bright rays consisting of impact ejecta and secondary craters.

/ NASA via AP

Messenger, the first spacecraft to successfully enter Mercury's orbit, transmitted this image of the planet.

/ NASA via AP

A detail of the Degas Crater on Mercury shows an impact melt coating the floor of the crater.

/ NASA via AP

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows paths left by astronauts on foot as well as lunar buggy tracks from the 1972 U.S. Apollo 17 moon mission.

/ NASA via AP

Space shuttle Atlantis is seen from the window of a shuttle training craft as Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center. The final shuttle launch of the space program was July 8.

Dick Clark / NASA via AP

Atlantis's external fuel tank is released after the space shuttle's successful launch into its final mission, a 12-day journey to the international space station.

NASA / via Getty Images

NASA electrical engineer Christian Ward with the Terrier Orion rocket payload being constructed at Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Suborbital rockets are designed to measure experiments in the ionosphere.

Linda Davidson / The Washington Post

Assembly of the first space-bound Orion multi-purpose crew module begins at the Michoud Assembly Facility outside New Orleans. This capsule will be used during Orion's first test flight.

NASA

An artist's rendering shows Kepler-10b, the first rocky planet. At 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system.

AFP/Getty Images

An artist's rendering envisions the world on planet Kepler-16b, where two suns set over the horizon. Kepler-16b has been called the most "Tatooine-like" planet so far discovered, alluding to the home planet of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars."

/ NASA via AP

A medium-size solar flare in June, as viewed from the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

NASA/SDO / via AP

The Galileo spacecraft sent this image of Jupiter's moon Europa. Visible are plains of bright ice, cracks that run to the horizon and dark patches that likely contain ice and dirt.

NASA

The Soyuz VS01 lifts off from the Guiana Space Center in Sinnamary, French Guiana, with the first two satellites in Europe's Galileo global positioning system. The Oct. 21 launch was the first time that the Russian Soyuz lifted off from outside Soviet Union bases.

ESA/CNES/Arianespace / Reuters

The Zenit-2SB rocket, carrying the Phobos-Grunt probe, before its launch at the cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Russia's first interplanetary mission in more than two decades went awry Nov. 9 when the unmanned probe failed to head toward Mars after its launch.

Oleg Urusov / Reuters

Orbital Science rocket scientist Les Kovacs with the Taurus II rocket he is developing at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.

Linda Davidson / The Washington Post

The Jupiter moon Europa, viewed from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft.

An artist's rendering shows the inner four planets of the Gliese 581 system and their host star, a red dwarf 20 light years from Earth. The planet in the foreground is the newly discovered GJ 581g.

Lynette Cook / AFP/Getty Images

Orion orbits the moon with disc-shaped solar arrays that track the sun to generate electricity.

/ National Air and Space Museum

An artist's rendering of the Voyager 2 spacecraft. Engineers have been authorized to reduce the power that the 34-year-old spacecraft needs to operate by turning off the heater that keeps the fuel to the primary thrusters warm. The change is expected to extend the life of Voyager 2.

NASA / via Reuters

NASA's Robonaut 2 -- the first dexterous humanoid robot in space -- is pictured in the Destiny laboratory of the international space station.

/ NASA via AP

The Aurora Australis in an image taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the international space station.

NASA/JSC / via Reuters

Featured Photo Galleries

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 29: Serena Williams of USA stretches to plays a forehand in her women's singles first round match between Serena Williams of USA and Virginie Razzano of France during day three of the French Open at Roland Garros on May 29, 2012 in Paris, France. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

French Open results: Serena Williams loses, Maria Sharapova cruises

The American tennis star lost in the first round of a Grand Slam event.

Winnie Pajcic, 9, holds on to a railing as she leans back in the wind during a visit to Stockton Park in Ortega, Fla., in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Beryl on Monday May 28, 2012. Beryl came ashore early Monday near Jacksonville Beach with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Kelly Jordan)

Tropical storm Beryl, Flugtag, Rolling Thunder, Memorial Day and more in the day in photos

Tropical storm Beryl, Flugtag, Rolling Thunder, Memorial Day and more.

Camels rest at a watering hole outside the town of Aleg May 25, 2012. REUTERS/Joe Penney (MAURITANIA - Tags: ANIMALS SOCIETY)

Camels, tigers, turtles, a giant stag beetle and more in animal views

Camels, tigers, turtles, a giant stag beetle and more.

ANNAPOLIS, MD- MAY 29: Graduates cheer as the Blue Angels fly over during the 100th anniversary of the United States Naval Academy Graduation and Commissioning Ceremonies in Annapolis, Maryland, on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. U.S Sec. of Defense Leon Edward Panetta gave the graduation address. (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

U.S. Naval Academy graduation

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta gave the commencement address at the ceremony.

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 26: Singer/actress Jennifer Lopez (C) performs with dancers during the Q'Viva! The Chosen Live show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on May 26, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Lil Jon, Eddie Van Halen, Mariah Carey and other celebrities.

Doc Watson, bluegrass and folk legend, dies at 89

The blind singer and guitarist was a Grammy winner, known for his flat-picking style of guitar playing.

Henry, a calf, sustained a head wound and required stitches after being slashed over the weekend.

Farm animals attacked in Fairfax

A calf, two goats and a chicken were slashed over the weekend at Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon.

COVINGTON, LA - MAY 14: Brother Emmanuel Labrise of St. Joseph's Abbey prepares a casket for lining on May 15, 2012 in Covington, Louisiana. Louisiana law forbids those who are not licensed funeral directors from selling caskets. And since Hurricane Katrina leveled the timberlands that once provided the main source of funding for the abbey, the monks have attempted to make a living by building and selling simple cypress caskets. The monks won their first round last year, and have a hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in June. (Photo by Sean Gardner/For the Washington Post)

Louisiana monks fight for the right to sell coffins

Federal court case pits a group of monks against the funeral home industry.

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