After spending 4 months aboard the International Space Station, three Expedition 33 crewmembers recently returned to Earth in their Soyuz spacecraft. The spacecraft which made a rare night landing touched down in a remote area of Kazakhstan. (Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

After four months aboard the International Space Station, three Expedition 33 crewmembers returned to Earth in their Soyuz spacecraft, making a rare night landing in a remote area of Kazakhstan. (NASA)

This is a view of Antarctica’s Sheldon Glacier with Mount Barre in the background.  The photo was taken by scientists participating in a new NASA/British Antarctica Survey study that is trying to find out why Antarctic sea ice cover has increased under the effects of climate change over the past two decades. (Photo: British Antarctic Survey)

Antarctica’s Sheldon Glacier with Mount Barre in the background. This photo was taken by scientists participating in a new NASA/British Antarctica Survey studying the effects of climate change on Antarctic sea ice cover. (British Antarctic Survey)

Scientists will soon conduct experiments to hunt for one of nature's most elusive particles, "dark matter."  An important tool to be used in the experiment is the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector.  Here’s a top-down view of the copper photomultiplier tube mounting structure, which is a key component of the detector.  (Photo: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector is an important tool in scientists’ search for dark matter, one of nature’s most elusive particles.  This is a top-down view of the copper photomultiplier tube mounting structure, a key component of the detector. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

An adult female walrus sits on an ice floe and poses for photos just off the Eastern Chukchi Sea in Alaska.  (Photo: S.A. Sonsthagen/USGS)

An adult female walrus sits on an ice floe just off the Eastern Chukchi Sea in Alaska. (S.A. Sonsthagen/USGS)

NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) was snapping pictures of the Sun recently when it erupted with two prominence eruptions, one after the other over a four-hour period.  Fortunately the expanding particle clouds heading into space weren’t directed at Earth.  (Photo: NASA)

The Sun recently experienced two prominent eruptions, which occurred one after the other over a four-hour period. Fortunately, the expanding particle clouds shooting into space weren’t directed at Earth. (NASA)

This is a view of the country side in Binghamton, NY as seen from inside a US National Weather Service radar radome (which protects radar components from the elements).  The weather radar was recently taken offline so that repairs could be made.  (Photo: NOAA/NWS)

A view of the countryside in Binghamton, NY as seen from inside a US National Weather Service radar radome (which protects radar components from the elements). The weather radar was recently taken offline so that repairs could be made. (NOAA/NWS)

This is Titan, the world’s most powerful and fastest supercomputer located at the Oakridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.  Titan has computational capability is on par with each of the world’s 7 billion people being able to carry out 3 million calculations per second.   (Photo: Oakridge National Laboratory)

Titan, the world’s most powerful and fastest supercomputer, is located at the Oakridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Titan’s computational capability is on par with each of the world’s 7 billion people being able to carry out 3 million calculations per second. (Oakridge National Laboratory)

A group of galaxies glow like fireflies on a dark night in this image snapped recently by the Hubble Space Telescope.  (Image: ESA/NASA/Hubble)

A group of galaxies glows like fireflies on a dark night in this image snapped recently by the Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA)

A cluster of lightning over the US National Severe Storms Lab Probe #2 minivan that measures weather statistics as it travels through storms.  (Photo: NOAA)

A cluster of lightning over a US National Severe Storms Lab Probe minivan which measures weather statistics as it travels through storms. (NOAA)

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory are working to more effectively remove a rare earth element (group of closely related metallic elements) called neodymium from the mix of other materials in a magnet.  Here rare-earth magnet scraps are melted in a furnace with magnesium. (Photo: DOE/Ames Laboratory)

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory are working to more effectively remove a rare earth element (group of closely related metallic elements) called neodymium from the mix of other materials in a magnet. Here rare-earth magnet scraps are melted in a furnace with magnesium. (DOE/Ames Laboratory)