NASA to launch photo, film library
In an update to NASA archive news posted earlier this week, the space agency has officially announced plans to develop a massive online archive of photography, film and video from its 50-year history. The archive will be developed under a five-year agreement with the Internet Archive, which will host the free site and help compile the imagery, according to NASA. The agency said it signed a nonexclusive Space Act agreement with the Internet Archive to develop the project, which will come at no cost to taxpayers.
The site, NASAImages.org, has yet to launch, and NASA did not say when it will. But it will likely take some time, given that the two organizations are bringing together 20 major imagery collections online, including more than 12 million NASA photographs and 100,000 hours of film and video footage. Under terms of the deal, NASA said that in the first year, the site will feature moving and computer-generated imagery. In the second year of the project, the agency will add digital imagery to the site. Then, in the third year, it will "identify analog imagery to be digitized and added to this online collection," according to NASA.
The Internet Archive will also develop a system to add new NASA imagery to the site automatically, according to the space agency. "To open this wealth of knowledge to people worldwide, Internet Archive will provide free public access to the online imagery, including downloads and search tools," it said.
