This compilation shows the constellation Hercules, as imaged on May 21 and 22 by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The images were captured by the two channels of the spacecraft camera during the mission's "first light" milestone.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer first light images are dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Hercules region was directly above Columbia when it made its last contact with NASA Mission Control on February 1, over the skies of Texas.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched on April 28 on a mission to map the celestial sky in the ultraviolet and determine the history of star formation in the universe over the last 10 billion years.