STS-117 Atlantis mission's rendezvous with Expedition 15 of the International Space Station.

Here are some stunning new NASA pictures, plus a few photos from a Russian source, you can get a closer look at science and maintenance work in orbit, including several fascinating spacewalks.

STS-117 Atlantis mission's rendezvous with Expedition 15 of the International Space Station.


Astronaut Steven Swanson during the mission's second spacewalk.






Inspection of the thermal shield.









Shuttle's payload bay is clearly visible, with a valuable cargo inside.



Shuttle approaching the International Space Station






"The Backflip" - flipping Atlantis on her "belly" to allow for closer examination of the heat shield.












Giving out packages from Earth...



Astronaut Jim Reilly during spacewalk.

Mission's first spacewalk (connecting station's newly installed truss)






Construction of the International Space Station continues - activating new truss segments.






Folding the older solar arrays...



Astronaut Patrick Forrester during the mission's fourth spacewalk.









New solar array configuration. Future missions will add more arrays to each side and several science modules.


Aurora Borealis as seen from space:


(Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA)


Sunset over the Pacific:


(Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA)

Transparent Butterfly

                          The Deadliest Creatures

The deadliest  critters lurk in dark silence, ready to strike with either the barest of warnings or none at all - and with absolutely fatal venom.

1. The Cone Snail: can kill you in less than 4 minutes

Say, for instance, you happen to be happily walking through the low surf merrily picking up and discarding shells, looking for just the right one to decorate your desk back at the office.

With no warning at all, however, you feel a sharp sting from one of those pretty shells -- a sting that quickly flares into a crawling agony. With that quick sting, the cone snail's barbed spear has insidiously injected you with one of the most potent neurotoxins in existence.


(image credit: Richard Ling)


(image credit: Kerry Matz)

2. Poison Arrow Frog: Lethal Touch


(image credit: mofmann)

That frog over there, for instance: that tiny, brilliantly colored tree frog. Doesn't he look like some kind of Faberge ornament, there against that vermilion leaf? Wouldn't such a natural jewel look just gorgeous in a terrarium back home?


(image credit: Edward Noble)

Pick him and you'll be dead in a matter of minutes. One second frolicking in the undergrowth, the next spasming and foaming on the jungle floor. No stinger, no bite, no venom: just the shimmering slime covering his brilliant body.

(image credit: Adrian Pingstone)

"They are the only animal in the world known to be able to kill a human by touch alone. They can jump as far as 2 inches."

 3. The lazy clown of the insect world.

(image credit: Diego Gonçalves)

The adult moth is just a moth, but the hairs of the caterpillar are juicy with nasty stuff, so nasty that dozens of people die every year from just touching them. By the way, it’s not a good way to go, either: their venom is a extremely powerful anticoagulant, death happening as the blood itself breaks down. Not fun. Very not fun.


(image credit: Ronai Rocha)

4. Beaked Sea Snake

Another creature of nightmares that doesn’t come with a theme song is a strange import to the world aquatica. When you think snake you usually think of dry land. But if you go paddling around the Persian Gulf (or coastal islands of India) keep a wary eye out for the gently undulating wave of Enhydrina Schistosa.


(image credit: insatiable dreams)

(image credit: Kozy & Dan Kitchens)

5. Stone Fish waits for you to step on it

But it’s not time to leave the sea quite yet. There are two nasty things in the blue depths you should spend many a sleepless night frightened of. For the big one you’ll have to wait a bit, for the one right below it in terrifying lethality you just have to watch your step when you’re walking along the bottom of the ocean.


(image credit: island life)

(image credit: Letho)