Launches of 2011

It's been a big year for both manned and unmanned rocket launches.

NASA marked the end of the space shuttle program while launching several probes to study Jupiter, the moon and Mars.

There was the possibility that the International Space Station would have to be left unmanned after the Russian space agency lost a cargo craft, but that fear was unrealized as the agency, Roscosmos, launched not one, but two manned Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station.

Check out our gallery of some of the most memorable launches of 2011.