NASASpace shuttle Atlantis, still in its protective shrink wrap, being prepared for public display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.2012 was a memorable year for Science.
From an Austrian 's record-breaking jump to Earth to the death of two space pioneers, here are the unforgettable science news stories that are worth reviewing before the calendar year rolls over.
Also, check out the biggest research breakthroughs of the year.
NASA's space shuttles arrive at their new homes.
NASA's final space shuttle launch in July of last year signaled the end of its 30-year Space Shuttle Program. The agency's fleet — Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour, and prototype Enterprise — were all relocated and put on public display at various museums around the country in 2012.
Space Shuttle Endeavor was the last orbiter to arrive at its final resting place when it rolled into a temporary hangar at Los Angeles' California Science Center in October. NASA will now rely on private companies, like Elon Musk's SpaceX, to lead a new era of space flight. They are currently using the Russian Soyuz shuttle to reach the International Space Station.
Space shuttle Endeavour is seen atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified 747 jetliner that will fly Endeavour to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display at the California Science Center. This is the final ferry flight scheduled in the Space Shuttle Program era.
Experts publish the most definitive evidence of ice sheet loss in Greenland and Antarctica.
A study published in November provided the the most definitive and accurate evidence to date that polar ice caps on Greenland and Antarctica are melting.
Experts combined 20 years of research and found that these ice sheets, the largest reservoirs of fresh water on Earth, are losing more than three times as much ice each year than they were in the 1990s. Rapid ice loss is worrisome because it contributes to sea-level rise, which threatens coastal communities and islands.
Not only are the ice sheets melting, but in the summer of 2012 Arctic Sea Ice reached the lowest levels ever seen, blowing away the previous record low from 2007.