A new book celebrates the past and future of human exploration of the cosmos.

"New Frontiers of Space: From Mars to the Edge of the Universe" explores the most important people and breakthroughs in space science and spaceflight today. The team at TIME Books responsible for creating the coffee table book pulled their ideas directly from the headlines.

An asteroid flyby, exoplanet discoveries, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, the meteor explosion over Russia all inspired the creation of the book. [See photos from TIME's "New Frontiers of Space" (Gallery)]