Want to know what goes on behind the scenes at SpaceX?

(SpaceX’s Dragon capsule arriving at the International Space Station – Photo Credit: NASA/SpaceX)

If you’ve ever wanted to tour SpaceX’s headquarters, then here is your chance, but it won’t be cheap.

Nearby star resembles ‘Eye of Sauron’ from Lord of the Rings

(Photo Credit: ESO/J.-L. Beuzit et al./SPHERE Consortium)

This is the magnificent ringed star HR 4796A, otherwise known as the Eye of Sauron star. Located in the southern constellation of Centaurus, the star bears a striking resemblance to the ‘Eye of Sauron’ from the popular film trilogy, Lord of the Rings due to the dust ring present around HR 4796A.

Image of the Day: 7/6/14

(Photo Credit: Steve Swanson/NASA)

This gorgeous picture shows the Western Sahara desert as seen from space.

Photographed by NASA astronaut Steve Swanson, who is currently on board the International Space Station, the image is captioned: “Western Sahara – the contrast between the sand and the water is spectacular form here”.

The striking division between the dry desert sand and the lush blue water is very distinctive.

For more amazing pictures of Earth from low Earth orbit, visit NASA’s instagram page. 

NASA beams ‘Hello, World!’ video message from space via laser

(The Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science transmitter – Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

For the first time ever, NASA have successfully beamed a high-definition video down to Earth from the International Space Station using a new laser communications transmitter.