[Digital Film Tools EZ Mask 2.002 (x32 X64)
Addison Mauldin
On this page:Conditions of use of astronaut photographs
How should I credit when using astronaut photography and time-lapse videos?
How do I search for a particular feature in your database?
Why is there no data available for my specific location?
Why do you have the old country title associated with some images?
How much detail is in astronaut photography?
What is the scale of this astronaut photograph?
Why do you not have any images of the poles?
What are "nadir", "near vertical", and "oblique" views?
What is the focal length and what does it have to do with the image footprint on the Earth?
What is the sun azimuth?
Can you explain the cloud cover percentage choices?
What does it mean when an astronaut photograph is "cataloged"?
What is the sun elevation angle and how is it calculated?
What does "ISS paralleling the terminator" mean?
What are the different choices of cameras?
What are the different choices of camera film and formats?
North is not at the top of the photo. Is there some mistake?
Why can you not see stars or galaxies in the photographs that show the curvature of the Earth and part of the black background of space?
Is it true that the Great Wall of China is the only human-made object that can be seen from space?
Where can I find a photograph of the whole Earth as seen from space?
Do the photos show the view exactly as it appears to the naked eye out of the spacecraft?
What kind of film is used?
How do I know if an image on the website is the best possible quality?
What kind of color correction is used on images taken with a digital camera?
How does the resolution compare with data from robotic satellites like Landsat or SPOT?
How does pixel size or instantaneous field of view relate to the size of objects that can actually be distinguished in a space photograph?
Since astronauts are traveling so fast in orbit, why don't the photographs look smeared?
How can I use astronaut photographs in scientific research?
What does the "Features from Machine Learning" checkbox do?
What does the "Include Panorama Imagery" checkbox do?
What are cloud masks that are available for some imagery?
How are cloud masks generated?
What do all of the fields in the Display Record page mean?
Missions used in the Database
Time to Position/Position to Time - Fields
Time to Position/Position to Time - Vectors
To use astronaut photography of Earth accessed through this website, please state "Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center" or "Video courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center" as appropriate. We recommend that the caption for any photograph published include the unique photo number (Mission-Roll-Frame), and our website (eol.jsc.nasa.gov) so that others can locate or obtain copies when needed. For videos, we recommend that the caption published include the title and a link to the video page on our website. We always appreciate notification of beneficial uses of astronaut photography of Earth and information on your applications. This will help us continue to maintain these services for the public. Send e-mail to jsc-ea...@mail.nasa.gov.
As a government entity, NASA does not "license" the use of NASA materials or sign license agreements. The Agency generally has no objection to the reproduction and use of these materials (audio transmissions and recordings; video transmissions and recording; or still and motion picture photography), subject to the following conditions:
We have a number of tools on our website that allow you to search for photos, browse low resolution images, and download digital versions of many images at various resolutions. You can find these tools here. Among these tools are also an uncataloged image search tool that may be useful for queries of a specific area with latitude/longitude coordinates. Images obtained using this option will have no center point defined and no descriptive metadata, so the user would need to identify the ground location of the image.
If, after using our search tools, you have specific questions about finding the exact photo you need, feel free to contact us with those questions. If you are interested in purchasing a photo that you find, or need a custom resolution or product, you may do so by contacting the Johnson Space Center Communications team. Use the contact information below for prices, printing options and turnaround times. Please be aware that this process can take up to 5 working days.
Please also note that astronaut photograph data may not exist for a given location on the Earth, or for a desired lighting or viewing perspective, and therefore may not be represented in our database.
The astronauts frequently take numerous images in addition to their established science targets, so it is possible that an image of your region of interest will be acquired in the future. If you are unable to find the images you need through our cataloged search options, please feel free to browse through our uncataloged imagery database. The images will not be geolocated or have associated features identified.
In cataloging new imagery, we use the names of the current republics in the geographic name field. Over the period of human spaceflight, a number of countries have changed names, united and divided. Our database uses the geographic name that was appropriate when the photograph was taken.
There are limitations to how much detail can be photographed by astronauts. The most detail we have observed is 3-meter pixels, meaning that each dot on the image is equal to 3 meters on the ground. In these most detailed photos, you can see neighborhood streets (unless they are heavily tree-lined) clear; individual houses and other buildings may be visible, but will likely not be sharply defined or have visible details. To find detailed images in our database, visit the Find Photos page and choose a focal length of at least 800mm.
This information is available for a large number of images in our database. In order to calculate the width and height of the image, we have to know the nadir location (coordinates the ISS is over at the time) as well as the center point (latitude and longitude of the center of the image), and the look angle must not be too oblique. For all the records in our database that meet these requirements, a button appears on the record display page that says "Calculate photo footprint". By clicking this button, you get a display that shows the distance across the image in meters, and the locations of a locator ellipse (in latitude and longitude).
The International Space Station uses a "circular" orbit with relatively low inclination angles relative to the Earth's equator. What this means is that the Space Station orbit track never crosses either the North or South polar regions. It is possible for astronauts to obtain oblique views of both the Arctic and Antarctic regions at the limits of the orbit track, but usual conditions of low light and poor weather limits their level of detail and usefulness. Other satellites such as Landsat are in Sun-synchronous, near-polar orbits that are greatly inclined relative to the equator. Such an orbit allows coverage of both polar regions. For more information, see our Space Station Orbit Tutorial.
Unlike robotic satellites, which look Earthward with a fixed geometry, the human astronaut can look out the window of the spacecraft at any angle. If the astronaut looks toward the nadir of the orbit, he or she is looking directly down at the Earth with no tilt angle. If the astronaut looks at some angle off the orbit track, he or she is looking at an oblique angle. Oblique photographs are classified as high oblique if the horizon or atmospheric limb can be seen. Photographs are classified as low oblique if they are intermediate between nadir and high oblique. In the database, the "tilt" field records NV (near vertical) for photos that have a center point within 1 degree latitude and longitude of the spacecraft nadir, HO (high oblique) for photos that include the horizon, and LO (low oblique) for the remaining photos.
The focal length of the camera is based on the camera lens that the crew member used to take the image. The focal length is measured in millimeters. The smaller the focal length (example: 28mm), the wider the field of view in the image. The larger the focal length (example: 800mm), the smaller the field of view in the image. The longer the lens focal length, the more magnification, greater detail, and smaller footprint.
The sun azimuth is the clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun. Therefore, if the sun azimuth angle is 90, this indicates that the sun is to the east. Likewise, 180 is south and 270 is west. This angle is calculated from the nadir point of the International Space Station, not at the center point of the image.
When an image is downlinked from the International Space Station, the only information that we are given is that from the camera. We have information about the date and time the image was taken, camera lens that was used, and other camera metadata. We find the nadir position of the ISS from the date and time from the camera. This is how the "Uncataloged" imagery database is structured. Once the ESRS team has the ISS nadir coordinates (see nadir description above), we will manually find the latitude and longitude of the center point of the image and add feature names in the description. This type of image is called "cataloged", and is how the user may search for feature names in our database.
The sun elevation angle is the angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, and is measured at the International Space Station's nadir point. These are numerical values, and can range from -90 to 90. The higher, positive angles indicate that the image will be in daytime light and the negative, lower numbers indicate that the resulting images will be in nighttime. As the number gets more negative and lower, there will be less sunlight in the image. For example: a higher negative number like -5 will be in darkness, but will be immediately following sunset, which is at 0 sun elevation angle. Therefore, that image will still have residual sunlight from the setting sun. The lower the negative number, the less amount of sunlight in the image.
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