NASA, Internet Archive partners with Yahoo!

to make rare space exploration photos accessible to everyone through Flickr

Online portal creates ease for both students and teachers around the world to research on NASAs space explorations
SINGAPORE Three compilations of images from more than half a century of NASA history are now made available for everyones access and comments on a section of the photo-sharing site Flickr known as The Commons. The partnership has made research and studying space exploration even more accessible for both students and teachers alike. The then arduous task of finding extensive space images from different sites has now been gathered into one online source and portal where visitors to NASA on The Commons can contribute in identifying objects and people from any of the photos by adding tags or keywords to the images. Viewers can also communicate with other visitors by sharing their comments, making it easier to find these photos online as they add insight about NASAs continuing history. The capability of interaction and access to these photos is the result of the partnership between NASA, Flickr from Yahoo! in Sunnyvale, Calif., and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library based in San Francisco. The photos are categorized into three sets that take viewers and visitors through the journey of NASA space exploration. Since each photo becomes the subject of discussion from millions of online visitors worldwide, browsing through the photos provides educational discovery and interactive learning. The sets of photos share a common theme of NASA beginnings. The "Launch and Takeoff" set captures iconic spacecraft and aircraft taking flight. "Building NASA" spotlights ground-breaking events and the construction of some of NASA's one-of-a-kind facilities. The "Center Namesakes" set features photos of the founders and figureheads of NASA's 10 field centers. To view NASA on The Commons images, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons "NASA's long-standing partnership with Internet Archive and this new one with Yahoo!'s Flickr provides an opportunity for the public to participate in the process of discovery and learning," said Debbie Rivera, lead for the NASA Images project at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "In addition, the public can help the agency capture historical knowledge about missions and programs through this new resource and make it available for future generations." The Commons was launched with the Library of Congress to increase access to publicly-held photography collections and provide a way for the public to contribute information and knowledge. "NASA on The Commons is bringing literally out-of-these-world images to Flickr," said Douglas Alexander, general manager of Flickr. "We are thrilled to be working with NASA to offer such a rich archive and provide amazing insight into space program and its early beginnings." As the project leader, the New Media Innovation Team at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., enlisted the help of NASA photography and history experts to compile the three image sets for The Commons. The group will continue to create and release new photo sets that highlight different elements, themes or achievements. Through a competitive process, NASA selected the Internet Archive in 2007 to organize a comprehensive online compilation of the agency's vast collection of photographs, historic film and video on the NASA Images website. Launched in 2008, NASAimages.org provides hundreds of thousands of images and thousands of hours of video, HD video and audio content available free to the public for download.

For more information and to see the image collection, visit: http://www.nasaimages.org For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov For more information about Internet Archive, visit: http://www.archive.org