Roberto Beltramini / Space 3D

A 3-D view created from NASA imagery shows the space shuttle Endeavour docked to the International Space Station during that shuttle's last mission in May.

How can you possibly improve upon the ultimate pictures of the space shuttle and the International Space Station together in orbit? By turning them into 3-D photos, of course.

That's what Italian amateur astronomer Roberto Beltramini did with the imagery captured in May by his countryman, astronaut Paolo Nespoli. The "ultimate" opportunity presented itself when Nespoli and two other spacefliers were leaving the space station to come back home during the shuttle Endeavour's final orbital tour. Nespoli shot high-definition stills and video from the departing Soyuz spacecraft, and the fruits of his labors were made public last month.

Beltramini took pairs of slightly offset images and tweaked them to produce these stereo views, displayed on his Space 3D gallery and republished with permission.

Roberto Beltramini / Space 3D

In this view, you can make out Endeavour's robotic arm curling around the shuttle. Red-blue glasses are required for the 3-D effect.

Roberto Beltramini / Space 3D

A different perspective shows Endeavour's rear end, head-on.

These are perspectives we'll never see again — not even during Atlantis' program-ending visit to the space station this month. It was a scheduling fluke that a Soyuz craft happened to be leaving the station while Endeavour was docked, and the circumstance is virtually certain not to be repeated.

We just might see Atlantis and the station linked together from a different perspective, however. Photographers such as France's Thierry Legault are getting better and better at snapping amazing pictures of the station-shuttle complex from Earth, and during Atlantis' mission, you'll want to check Legault's website as well as Patrick Vantuyne's 3-D photo gallery.

Update for 9:40 p.m. ET: You'll need red-blue glasses to get the full 3-D effect from the pictures offered by Beltramini and Vantuyne. I'm in the process of sending out 3-D specs to at least a dozen (and probably more) members of the Cosmic Log Facebook community as part of our occasional "3-D Giveaway" program. To join the community, all you have to do is click the "Like" button on the Facebook page. The glasses are being provided courtesy of Microsoft Research. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.) If you're one of today's winners, congrats: I'll start sending out the glasses after Atlantis lifts off.

More 3-D views from space:

• Explore the 3-D depths of Mars
• Get a fresh 3-D look at Phobos
• See a Martian crater in 3-D
• See a Martian milestone in 3-D
• See the Martian arctic in 3-D
• See more depths of Mars in 3-D
• 3-D delights from Mars
• Still more from Mars in 3-D
• Go on a space mission in 3-D
• See the moon's marvels in 3-D
• Saturn's moons in 3-D
• More from outer space in 3-D
• Fly through a nebula in 3-D
• Cosmic Log's 3-D-O-Rama

Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds. 

NASA

The space shuttle Endeavour is docked to the International Space Station in this unprecedented view, captured on May 23 from a departing Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA has released unprecedented views of the International Space Station linked up with the shuttle Endeavour, as seen from a departing Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli captured the images during just a few minutes on May 23, but it took more than two weeks for the views to follow a tortuous route to the Web.

Nespoli and his two crewmates — Russia's Dmitry Kondratyev and NASA's Catherine "Cady" Coleman — just happened to be heading back to Earth while Endeavour and its crew were visiting the station, which set up a golden opportunity for the kinds of pictures that had never been taken before. The images show the shuttle and station from a distance of about 600 feet (200 meters), with Earth's curving disk in the background.

NASA

The International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour are seen at an angle in this picture, captured May 23. Endeavour is visible at the top of the station's central stack, with the shuttle's robotic arm snaking around it.

While Nespoli recorded stills and high-definition video, Moscow's Mission Control commanded the space station to do a 130-degree turn worthy of a fashion model.

Only one shuttle flight remains, and that virtually guarantees that these will be the only shuttle-station shots of this type ever taken. "It's unprecedented, and we worked hard to get here," NASA's space station flight director, Derek Hassman, said at the time.

NASA

The International Space Station and the shuttle Endeavour sail over Earth's oceans and clouds in this image, captured May 23 from a departing Soyuz craft.

NASA and its Russian partners had to work hard to get the pictures back as well: When the Soyuz crew landed in Kazakhstan, the data chips containing the precious images were left inside the spacecraft. The chips and the Soyuz's other contents had to be shipped back separately to RKK Energia's processing facility in Moscow, and then cleared for distribution. That's why it took so long to get these pictures out to the world.

Maybe they could have hustled up the process. But considering the fact that these pictures will probably be showing up in history books for generations to come, I think they're still well worth the two-week wait. Do you agree? Before you answer, check out the full-size photos in NASA's online gallery.

NASA

The space shuttle Endeavour is visible at the top of the International Space Station's line of modules, with its robotic arm extended and kinked. Endeavour is connected to the Harmony node, with Japan's Kibo lab extending to the right and Europe's Columbus lab at left. Below Harmony is the U.S. Destiny lab, the Unity node, the Leonardo storage module and the Tranquility module, with its Cupola observation deck visible toward the lower right corner of the image.

More amazing views from Endeavour's mission:

• Take a virtual ride on Endeavour
• Up, up and away ... to see the shuttle
• Awesome photo of shuttle from airplane
• Slideshow: Shuttle Endeavour, this is your life

Update for 11:45 p.m. ET June 7: For the photography buffs out there ... NASA officials say that Nespoli's camera equipment was provided by the Russians, so they can't say specifically what he was using. But veterans on the NASASpaceflight.com forum have tracked down the data and say Nespoli had a Nikon D3X. I've written a follow-up posting specifically about that part of the story.

Update for 12:05 p.m. ET June 8: You had to know that the ultimate space portrait would merit a mention on the network news shows. Here's a clip from "Nightly News" in which NBC News anchor Lester Holt shares some of the imagery with TV viewers. But be sure to look at the complete NASA gallery as well:

Update for 5:45 p.m. ET June 8: I've put together a follow-up item about the newly released high-definition video from Nespoli's photo shoot.

You can connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. Also, give a look to "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Dani Caxete

The International Space Station and the shuttle Endeavour pass over the sun's disk in a photograph taken by Spain's Dani Caxete through a telescope with a filter.

The space shuttle Endeavour's last spaceflight is finished, but the memories — and the images — keep rolling in. Spanish photographer Dani Caxete captured this amazing picture of Endeavour hooked up to the International Space Station as the linked spaceships sped across the sun's disk, as seen from a spot in Spain's Madrid-Guadalajara corridor.

Caxete had to be in just the right place at just the right time to catch the picture during a half-second opportunity. On his Paranoias Nocturnas blog, he notes that Pope Benedict XVI was in contact with the space crew on the same day. "Would it be the same hour? How curious...," Caxete wrote.

You can see the space station as a buggy-looking speck near the center of the sun's disk. Of course, the station was nowhere near the sun: It was passing about 220 miles (350 kilometers) overhead, while the sun is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) farther away. Can you make out Endeavour? This labeled close-up shows you the shuttle's location:

Dani Caxete

A close-up of the sun's disk shows the International Space Station, with the position of the docked space shuttle Endeavour indicated by the label.

Caxete's blog and his Flickr page offer a wealth of space images, including this multiple-exposure photo of the space station zooming past the moon's disk:

Dani Caxete

A multiple-exposure picture shows the International Space Station passing over the moon's disk.

Caxete says the picture of the station and Endeavour was taken through a 5-inch Celestron C5 spotting scope, which goes for around $400, while the moon picture was made using a telescope that he says cost about $75 (50 euros). Caxete's experience demonstrates that you don't have to spend a fortune to get some great sky photos.

And here's a free bonus: a view of Endeavour by its lonesome during its final minutes of flight, as captured on video by Noe Castillo from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The space shuttle lit up the sky on its way to its final landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday. The bright streak is the ionization trail left behind as Endeavour plunged through the atmosphere at an altitude of 40 miles. For more from Castillo, check out his Facebook page and his YouTube video channel.

More sky photos:

• Month in Space: Must-see pictures from May
• Marvel at the 'Midnight Sun' eclipse
• Photos focus on night-sky wonders and worries
• Stunning views of the sun ... and Discovery?!
• The night sky in 37,440 exposures
• All-time top 10 astronomy pictures

Two big tips o' the Log to Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait and Discovery News' Ian O'Neill.

You can connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. Also, give a look to "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Quest for Stars / Challenger Center / CSE

The shuttle Endeavour leaves behind an arcing plume of exhaust in this picture, captured on Monday by the Senatobia-1 balloon from an altitude of 64,000 feet.

The hundreds of thousands of spectators who turned out to watch the shuttle Endeavour's final launch on Monday could see it for only a matter of seconds before the spaceship plowed through a cloud bank, but a camera-equipped balloon built by students captured plenty of pictures of Endeavour's ascent from 64,000 feet.

The Senatobia-1 balloon experiment — organized by Quest for Stars, the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and the Coalition for Space Exploration — followed up on a similar operation that tracked Discovery's last launch in February. In the picture above, you can see Endeavour's plume of exhaust as the shuttle arcs spaceward.

The balloon was sent up from Beverly Hills, Fla., hours in advance of Endeavour's launch, and took video with an array of high-definition digital cameras as it ascended. Even after the launch pictures were taken, Senatobia-1 continued to rise until it reached an altitude of 95,000 feet. Then the balloon popped and the payload parachuted back to Earth, its location tracked via GPS signals. Searchers found the payload stuck up in a tree in a nursery in Pierson, Fla., 130 miles from the launch site.

"This time we were sitting there waiting for it," Quest for Stars spokesman Bobby Russell told me today.

Senatobia-1 is named after the community in Mississippi that suggested "Endeavour" as the name for NASA's youngest shuttle, which was built as a shuttle fleet replacement after the 1986 Challenger tragedy. Yet another connection to Endeavour was included as part of the balloon payload: a list of signatures from students in Senatobia, wishing a speedy recovery to wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the wife of Endeavour commander Mark Kelly.

A shuttle launch costs hundreds of millions of dollars, but Senatobia-1's launch cost much less. "For under five grand you could do basically what we did," Russell said.

He said additional videos and still imagery would be made available via the Quest for Stars website, Twitpic gallery, Facebook page and YouTube page this week. Here's a sample from today, showing the payload's freefall:

Next up is a balloon launch from the San Diego area, scheduled for next week, and then comes the big summer project: construction of the "Strato-Shuttle," a balloon-borne unmanned aerial vehicle with a 5- to 6-foot wingspan. The idea is that the balloon rises up to an altitude of more than 120,000 feet, and then releases the UAV to fly back to earth under remote control. Russell is recruiting student interns and plans to test the system in Mojave, Calif. — the same locale where the pros are working on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo and XCOR Aerospace's Lynx.

"That's the next generation," Russell said.

More amazing views from on high:

• Awesome photo of shuttle from airplane

Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," Alan's book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds. 

Ralph O. Schill / ESA

A tardigrade, also known as a water bear, measures less than a millimeter (0.04 inch) in length but can withstand harsh environments and still thrive. The water bears are the stars of the show for the Planetary Society's Shuttle LIFE experiment on the shuttle Endeavour.

The eight-legged water bears have had to go back to the lab, and the energy bars better have a longer shelf life. But the big-ticket science item for the shuttle Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station, the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, is just fine where it's at. We've heard a lot about the space spectrometer, which could crack the mysteries of antimatter and dark matter. but there are scores of smaller, quirkier experiments due to ride on Endeavour's final trip, whenever it happens.

Here are a few of the quirkier scientific and educational payloads:

Planetary Society

Bill Nye ("The Science Guy"), executive director of the Planetary Society, holds one of the microbe-filled Shuttle LIFE tubes with a set of tweezers.

Shuttle LIFE: The nonprofit Planetary Society is putting six types of microbes inside sealed tubes that will fly on Endeavour's middeck. The critters include eight-legged water bears, also known as tardigrades; Deinococcus radiodurans, one of the most radiation-resistant microbes known on Earth; Bacillus subtilis, a garden-variety strain of bacteria; Cupriavidus metallidurans, a type of bacteria that gobbles up heavy metals; the salt-loving microbe known as Haloarcula marismortui; and Pyrococcus furiosus, a critter that can withstand temperatures above 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius).

Sounds like the Planetary Society just recruited a League of Extraordinary Extremophiles.

The idea is to study how microbes that are adapted to different extreme environments on Earth do in the zero-G space environment. Planetary Society's Bruce Betts says this experiment is a "wet run" for a similar experiment that will fly on Phobos-Grunt, a Russian-Chinese mission due for launch to the Martian moon Phobos within the next year.

"It's like a dry run, but we actually get real science while we're at it," Betts told me.

After NASA postponed last week's scheduled launch of Endeavour, the Shuttle LIFE experiment was pulled off the shuttle along with other experiments on the middeck. Fresh tubes will go to the launch pad a couple of days before liftoff. "The good news for our experiment is that it's not much of an impact," Betts said. If these microbes can survive super-radiation and blazing temperatures, they should be able to handle a week or two hanging around the lab.

Student experiments: NASA has made room for several experiments set up by students, including one that studies seed germination in space and another that looks at the effects of microgravity on squid embryos. Then there's the STEM Bar, which will be flying on Endeavour as the result of a competition sponsored by the Conrad Foundation. STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering and mathematics," and the nutritional grain bar's creators hope that the space spotlight will help get kids back on Earth interested in STEM education.

The bar is made from oats, puffed rice and dried fruits, and has gone through NASA's space-food certification process for orbital consumption. One of the bar's developers, 15-year-old Shannon Diesch of the Battle Creek Area Mathematics and Science Center in Michigan, told me that such energy bars are among "the favorite things to eat up there" on the space station.

She and her 16-year-old sister, Mikayla, were at Kennedy Space Center for last week's launch attempt and gave me one of the bars for sampling. After leaving it in my suitcase for a week, to simulate the rigors of spaceflight, I shared the STEM Bar with three of my sweets-loving crewmates at the office. The verdict? Thumbs-up from all four of us.

ASI via NASA

The camera-equipped Astronaut Personal Eye is designed to float in zero-gravity and follow astronauts around, or serve as a remote-controlled eye in outer space.

Astronaut Personal Eye: One of the most James Bond-ish of the experiments is a "micro-aircraft" that could eventually follow astronauts around as they go about their activities inside or outside the space station. The camera-equipped, gyro-stabilized, thruster-powered gadget can be remote-controlled by an astronaut, to serve as a "personal eye" for observation. But NASA's info sheet on the device notes that problems may pop up: "In fact, the space environment may cause catastrophic events on micro-electronic components and devices, due to shocks and vibrations, high temperatures, ionizing radiations and electromagnetic fields." Be careful what you do with that thing, commander!

Lego bricks: Yes, those famous snap-together toys are due to go up on Endeavour, under the terms of an educational partnership between NASA and the Denmark-based Lego company. Astronauts will assemble a Lego workbench as well as a model of the space shuttle and the space station. NASA astronaut Cady Coleman has been designated as the first to take on the task, after getting some training from her 10-year-old son. The space-themed Lego kits are going on sale here on Earth this year.

Asian Seed: Japan's space agency is sending up a package of plant seeds that will be stored in the space station's Japanese Kibo laboratory for a month, and then sent back down to Earth for use in educational kits and gifts. The concept sounds similar to the "moon trees" that were grown from seeds taken into space by Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa in 1971. The locations for hundreds of those trees are currently unknown. Let's just hope the Japanese keep better track of where all their space seeds end up.

Update for 1:15 p.m. ET May 7: Pyrococcus furiosus can indeed survive temperatures above 100 degrees C, but I originally wrote that this was above water's boiling point. Which it would be at sea level. But in the deep-sea environment where the microbe lives, the pressures are so great that water does not boil at those temperatures. Thanks to Jonathan Eisen for pointing that out.

Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," Alan's book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.