Kennedy space center, florida / NASA’s Artemis I mission kicks off a plan to return humans to the moon. On the initial trip, a “moonikin” is sitting in for crew in the Orion capsule to measure radiation and acceleration and test a survival suit for future crewed missions.  (2 of 49)
Photograph by Dan Winters

Corning, New York / Scientists at manufacturer Corning devised flexible and durable ceramics as ribbons thinner than a sheet of paper. This heat-tolerant alumina could be applied to automotive sensors and other devices used in harsh environments.  (3 of 49)
Photograph by Christopher Payne

Luxor, Egypt / With winged arms in a protective spread, this relief of the Egyptian goddess Isis has stood guard for millennia on the stone sarcophagus of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.  (5 of 49)
Photograph by Paolo Verzone

Weddell Sea / Ernest Shackleton and his crew in 1915 all survived when ice crushed their ship, Endurance, off the coast of Antarctica. The barkentine was discovered nearly 10,000 feet down in March 2022 by the Endurance22 expedition.  (6 of 49)
Photograph by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and National Geographic

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA / Shrouded in mist, NASA’s Space Launch System, linchpin of the Artemis program, looms over Launch Complex 39B. Artemis aims to land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon and use it as a stepping stone to Mars.  (8 of 49)
Photograph by Dan Winters

ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS STATE PARK, Florida / A manatee munches on a wisp of eelgrass in Florida’s Ichetucknee River, whose clean, warm waters can be a winter refuge for the aquatic mammals. Manatees can’t tolerate water colder than 68 degrees Fahrenheit.  (9 of 49)
Photograph by Jason Gulley

Vakhsh River, Tajikistan / Ranobi Islomova, 63, of Farkhor, Tajikistan, lies in the back of a car while waiting to return home from surgery. In the background is the reservoir formed by the 984-foot-high Nurek Dam, the second highest dam on the planet.  (10 of 49)
Photograph by Anush Babajanyan

Lopé National Park, Gabon / An elephant gathers the fruit of a Detarium macrocarpum tree off the forest floor. Research suggests that a decline in Lopé’s tree fruits may be causing forest elephants to starve in one of their last strongholds in Central Africa.  (12 of 49)
Photograph by Jasper Doest

Camp Adventure, Denmark / Visitors ascend the spiraling 150-foot-high boardwalk in the yellowing autumn at Denmark’s Camp Adventure to gain a new perspective on the forest southwest of Copenhagen—and, perhaps, on life itself.  (13 of 49)
Photograph by Orsolya Haarberg

Hunza, Pakistan / Ali Haider, 19, Najib Khan, 20, and Atif Amin, 24, pose in pumpkin masks trimmed with goat hair during the reenactment of a “glacier mating” ceremony on the Shispare Glacier in Pakistan’s Hunza Valley.  (14 of 49)
Photograph by Matthieu Paley

lladoc, Kosovo / A Lada is enclosed in a glass box at a memorial to early heroes of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The car was carrying KLA members Zahir Pajaziti, Edmond Hoxha, and Hakif Zejnullahu when it was ambushed by Serbian forces in 1997.  (15 of 49)
Photograph by Justyna Mielnikiewicz

Pristina, Kosovo / A musician prepares for the inaugural performance of the Kosovo Opera in the Palace of Youth and Sports. Kosovo has nearly 1.8 million people and one of Europe’s youngest populations; more than half of its citizens are under 30.  (16 of 49)
Photograph by Justyna Mielnikiewicz

Zurich, Switzerland / A refinery on the roof of a lab at ETH Zurich pulls carbon dioxide and water from the air and feeds them into a reactor that concentrates solar radiation. Researchers hope the system will eventually produce carbon-neutral jet fuel.  (17 of 49)
Photograph by Davide Monteleone

Blue cypress lake, florida / A Falcon 9 rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral, streaks above bald cypress trees. This was the second time in less than a year that a SpaceX rocket appeared in Stone’s frame while he was shooting at night in a remote swamp.  (18 of 49)
Photograph by Mac Stone

Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya / Photographed with an infrared camera, a spotted hyena scientists nicknamed Palazzo submissively lays her ears back as Moulin Rouge, the clan’s dominant female at the time, towers over her. Palazzo’s cub peers out from between them.  (19 of 49)
Photograph by Jen Guyton

Cauca, Colombia / The family of Indigenous Misak leader Nazaria Calambás Tunubalá mourns at her funeral in Cauca. In October 2021, the former mayor, then 34, was gunned down while defending a water source in a territory previously run by guerrillas.  (20 of 49)
Photograph by Florence Goupil

PRZEMYŚL, POLAND / At a makeshift photography studio outside a shelter for Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion, Ludmyla Kuchebko, 72, worries for her son in Kyiv. She prays to God to “save not only my son but the whole Ukraine.”  (21 of 49)
Photograph by Anastasia Taylor-Lind

PRZEMYŚL, POLAND / Oksana Hapbarova (at left), 18, and her mother (also named Oksana, 39) waited out Russian attacks in a Kyiv bomb shelter. “For six days, I couldn’t sleep, because I was scared I would never wake up,” says the younger Hapbarova.  (22 of 49)
Photograph by Anastasia Taylor-Lind

Caracas, Venezuela / Blue-and-yellow macaws perch on a rooftop, waiting to be fed by locals. Native to South America’s tropical forests and savannas, the birds have proliferated in Venezuela’s capital city over the past few decades because of the pet trade.  (23 of 49)
Photograph by Alejandro Cegarra

Mumbai, India / Pedestrians, motorcycles, and taxis crowd a street in Mumbai, home to about 21 million people. India is poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, a hurdle in its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  (25 of 49)
Photograph by Arko Datto

Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area, Australia / Rangers Rosemary Nabulwad, Arijay Nabarlambarl, Margaret Nabulwad, Janice Nalorlman, and Lorna Nabulwad hunt turtles with long-handled crowbars on land they manage and protect as traditional Aboriginal owners.  (27 of 49)
Photograph by Matthew Abbott

DALLAS, TEXAS / A taxidermied African lion is transported on a dolly at the Dallas Safari Club’s convention. In 2021, South Africa promised to end its multimillion-dollar lion-breeding industry, but few steps have been taken toward this goal.  (28 of 49)
Photograph by David Chancellor

Kobuk River Valley, alaska / Captured by drone, caribou from the Western Arctic herd gallop across a valley near the small town of Ambler during their spring migration. Caribou populations throughout much of North America are declining mysteriously.  (29 of 49)
Photograph by Katie Orlinsky

Washington, D.C. / A long camera exposure blurs the crowd of tourists inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The monument, visited by millions annually, celebrated its centennial this year.  (30 of 49)
Photograph by Sasha Arutyunova

PulpÍ, Spain / The 390-cubic-foot Pulpí Geode, found in 1999 in a mine, contains gypsum crystals up to seven feet long. Researcher Fernando Gázquez measures the geode’s atmospheric conditions to see if tourist visits are affecting the formations.  (33 of 49)
Photograph by Robbie Shone

Gyumri, Armenia / Effendi hasn’t spotted Satyrus effendi, a rare butterfly named for her father—Azerbaijani entomologist Rustam Effendi—in the wild. But she photographed a preserved one belonging to his protégé, taxidermist Parkev Kazarian.  (34 of 49)
Photograph by Rena Effendi

Gyumri, Armenia / Parkev Kazarian, an ethnic Armenian born in Azerbaijan, has lived in Armenia since 1989 due to conflict between the two countries. “I wanted to capture his loneliness and isolation,” says Effendi. “It’s like he’s trapped in a time capsule.”  (35 of 49)
Photograph by Rena Effendi

Manila, PHILIPPINES / For a peso (less than two cents), neighborhood vending machines bring the internet for a few minutes to Filipinos. They spend an average of four hours a day on social media, making them some of the world’s most active users.  (37 of 49)
Photograph by Hannah Reyes Morales

Naing Valley, Pakistan / Shadman Ali, 26, shades his head from the brutal heat near the holy spring of Naing Sharif. The pilgrim and his pigeon, brightly colored for easy identification, are traveling an ancient 124-mile Sufi route to Balochistan Province.  (38 of 49)
Photograph by Matthieu Paley

Naing Valley, Pakistan / Also a pilgrim, Safar Ali, 53, stands in the waters near Naing Sharif. “We have all come from the same stream,” he says. Heavy rains and glacier melt flooded the region in summer 2022, displacing nearly eight million people.  (39 of 49)
Photograph by Matthieu Paley

Minneriya, Sri Lanka / Wild Asian elephants mingle with cattle at a garbage dump. The island nation is home to some 6,000 pachyderms living in close contact with people. Having lost their lowland forest home, elephants now seek out other habitats.  (40 of 49)
Photograph by Brent Stirton

wardak province, Afghanistan / Rafiullah, 10, packs dirt into a bomb crater on National Highway 1. The 1,400-mile-long ring road has been ruined by decades of war and neglect. Now boys like Rafiullah and his 15-year-old brother serve as ad hoc repair crews for tips.  (41 of 49)
Photograph by Balazs Gardi

LIBERTY, NEW YORK / Hunters bring dead coyotes to be weighed in a contest offering $2,000 to the one who bags the heaviest animal. Despite being among the most persecuted animals in the U.S., coyotes have expanded their range to 49 states.  (43 of 49)
Photograph by Karine Aigner

Mount Everest / Green caught climber Thomas Moore walking amid the tents pitched at Camp I and framed by Everest (at left), Lhotse (center), and Nuptse. “I was so cold, but I was just trying to get a final shot before the sun went down,” he says.  (45 of 49)
Photograph by Evan Green

Lancaster sound, Canada / The 47-foot Polar Sun crosses the mouth of Lancaster Sound. This National Geographic expedition aims to uncover what happened to the sailors from an ill-fated British Royal Navy attempt to navigate the Northwest Passage in 1845.  (46 of 49)
Photograph by Renan Ozturk

Disko Bay, Greenland / Weeks into the journey of the Polar Sun, the boat played peekaboo with icebergs as Ozturk readied his camera drone and held his breath. “Launching the drone from a moving boat is always a dangerous and exciting affair,” he says.  (47 of 49)
Photograph by Renan Ozturk