--------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions: NSSDC Photo Gallery --------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is not intended to answer general questions about NASA photos or information about solar system bodies. These FAQs (for the sci.space newsgroups on usenet) are available at Ohio State University. URL: http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/space/top.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents * Can I use the images from NSSDC's Photo Gallery or do I need to obtain permission from somebody first? * I'd like to get a copy of these images as a photo product. How? * Why are all of the "full-resolution" images on the Photo Gallery in JPEG format rather than GIF? * Do you have these images available via FTP as well? * Where can I find images of (insert whatever)? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Can I use the images from NSSDC's Photo Gallery or do I need to obtain permission from somebody first? All of the images presented on NSSDC's Photo Gallery are in the public domain. As such, they may be used for any purpose. NSSDC does ask, however, that you acknowledge NASA and the NSSDC as the supplier of the data. In addition, where the source of the image (by project or as a specific person) is credited in the text, you should also acknowledge that, too. In addition, NASA further requires that NASA images cannot be used to imply endorsement by NASA. 2. I'd like to get a copy of these images as a photo product. How? Many of the images in the Photo Gallery can be obtained from NSSDC either as a hardcopy photograph, transparency, or 35 mm slide. The photographs which can be so obtained have photo numbers (usually NASA press release, or PR, numbers) next to them. To order such photos, send an e-mail to our user support office at request@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov or phone at (301)286-6695. You should have the photo number of the images you want and the name of the mission for each photo. NSSDC does charge for photographic materials on a cost-recovery basis. The current cost of different photographic reproductions is available in NSSDC's Photo Price List. Some of the images are not available as a photo product at this time. Others are available on CD-ROM. These can generally be identified by the lack of a NASA PR number. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope which are identified with both a Space Telescope number (e.g., STScI-PRC-96-30) and a NASA HQ number (e.g., 96-H-634) are available from NSSDC. Ones with only a STScI number are not currently available from NSSDC. 3. Why are all of the "full-resolution" images on the Photo Gallery in JPEG format rather than GIF? The choice of JPEG format over GIF for the larger images was made for two different reasons. The first is a matter of size. In most cases, the JPEG images are smaller. In order to reduce the load on both our server machine as well as on the network and users machine, it was felt that using JPEG compression was a reasonable alternative. It preserves most of the original image, but minimizes the file sizes. The second consideration was one of color depth. Although most imagers on spacecraft in use today still have only a depth of 256 levels (gray scale), the color images which are on the photo gallery are often combinations of three such filters. Thus, even though the original single-filter images are only 8-bit (and therefore appropriate for the lossless GIF compression), the resultant color images are actually 24-bit. Since GIF compression gets rid of this additional color information, but JPEG does not, it was felt that the loss of color depth was much more severe than the loss due to using the JPEG compression. 4. Do you have these images available via FTP as well? Yes! We finally have our images available via FTP as well as via the WWW for those browsers (shame on them!) which don't support saving the image. You can FTP to: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov and set default to pub/photo_gallery/ to see what is there. At this time, both the captions and the images are available. If you prefer to exercise the link right now, try: URL: ftp://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/photo_gallery/ 5. Where can I find images of (insert whatever)? There are a number of reasons you might not have found what you're looking for in the NSSDC Photo Gallery. First, the image(s) may not yet be available. Second, the image(s) may be available, but not (at least yet) from NSSDC. Third, it may be something which no one has suggested be put up. Lastly, it may be outside the province of NSSDC's responsibilities. In all cases, feel free to send your feedback and we'll try and address your concerns. However, you might also try first looking through the other sites to which the Photo Gallery provides links. The list is not a comprehensive listing of all sources of images, but covers most of the areas we are asked about most frequently. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other NSSDC FAQs of potential interest [*] The NSSDC Planetary FAQ Page [*] The NSSDC CD-ROM FAQ Page [*] The NSSDC Earth FAQ Page ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ Home] [ | Photo Gallery] [ | Feedback ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have questions about the images on NSSDC's Photo Gallery, please first consult our Frequently Asked Questions page. Other questions and comments may be submitted using the feedback button on each page. [NSSDC logo] Author/curator: Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II, ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov, +1-301-286-1187 NSSDC, Mail Code 633, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Official: J. H. King, king@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov Version 2.1, 29 June 1995 Last Updated: 23 June 1997, EVB II