Month: July 2008

Today marks the 50^th Anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Over the past fifty years, NASA has brought America beautiful images of our planetary neighbors and distant, far off galaxies. Looking at the stars has been a popular pastime for generations, and it’s unlikely that our fascination with space will die out any time soon. After all, even just this summer audiences flocked to see the latest Pixar film, Wall-E, about robots and space ships soaring amongst the stars.

Bringing the solar system fun home or to the classroom is easier than ever, thanks to the NASA images website. The project is a massive collection of pictures from the universe, our solar system and the planets therein, the beautiful planet Earth, and our brave astronauts. Best of all, these space pictures can be used for free.

According to the NASA imagery and photo guidelines, “still images, audio files and video generally are not copyrighted. You may use NASA imagery, video and audio material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits and Internet Web pages.” If you’re looking for something to add some sparkle to your scrapbook or a little zest to your blog pages, why not use an image of the sun or some pictures of an eclipse? The possibilities really are endless, so don’t let this great resource go to waste.

Note: Just a reminder that the blue NASA logo isn’t free to use. They guard the copyright to their logo very closely. I used to intern for a company that had a partnership with NASA, and I vividly remember how strict they would be on the placement of their insignia and who could and could not publish it. Please be respectful and don’t don the NASA insignia or logo on anything without their permission.