2011: The year in space (44 images)

On Feb. 12, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless, ventured further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut had ever been. This space first was made possible by a nitrogen jet propelled backpack, previously known at NASA as the Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU. After a series of test maneuvers inside and above Challenger's payload bay, McCandless went "free-flying" to a distance of 320 feet away from the Orbiter. This orbital panorama view shows McCandless out there amongst the black and blue of Earth and space. UPI/NASA

The star-forming region, 30 Doradus, is one of the largest located close to the Milky Way and is found in the neighboring galaxy, Large Magellanic Cloud. About 2,400 massive stars in the center of 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula, are producing intense radiation and powerful winds as they blow off material. Multimillion-degree gas detected in X-rays (blue) by the Chandra X-ray Observatory comes from shock fronts -- similar to sonic booms --formed by these stellar winds and by supernova explosions. This hot gas carves out gigantic bubbles in the surrounding cooler gas and dust shown here in infrared emission from the Spitzer Space Telescope (orange). UPI/NASA

This artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. The rocket carrying Curiosity launched on November 26, 2011. UPI/NASA/JPL-Caltech

The North America Nebula is seen in an infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in February, 2011. In visible light the region resembles North America but in this image it disappears in part because infrared light penetrates dust whereas visible light cannot. Clusters of young stars (about one million years old) can be found throughout the image. UPI/NASA/JPL-Caltech