Endeavour's Final TouchdownNASA's space shuttle Endeavour lands before dawn on Monday morning at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour's six-astronaut crew delivered spare parts and a new dark matter detector to the International Space Station during the shuttle's latest 15-day mission—Endeavour's 25th and final flight. Next up for the orbiter: being cleaned, mothballed, and retired to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.(See "12 Endeavour Images to Remember.")
Photograph courtesy NASA

Space Pictures This Week: Crystal "Rain," Shuttle Finale

The shuttle Endeavour retires, green crystal "rain" douses a star, and plasma gets tugged by the sun in this week's best space pictures.

June 7, 2011