14 DAY TRIAL // NASA and the Internet Archive have partnered with Flickr to make a series of historical images from the space agency available in the Yahoo-owned site. Three sets of images are now available in The Commons section of the site, reserved for images with un-restrictive copyright licenses.
"NASA joins the Commons on Flickr today with three iconic sets spanning the US space agency’s 50+ year history," Flickr's Tara Kirchner wrote.
"Their Commons account will feature photos from across the agency’s many locations and centers, chronicling the history of space and lunar missions, and the people and places of the organization," she added.
In the case of NASA, the images are in the public domain and aren't burdened by any copyright license whatsoever. The close to 200 images made available on Flicker are grouped into three sets.
The first set is Building NASA, with a self-explanatory name. This set features the early days when most of the facilities were built, spanning from the 30s to the 50s and 60s.
Another set, Launch/Takeoff, features the launch of many of NASAs rockets and other projects. Finally, the NASA Center Namesakes set features photos of the people that lent their names to NASA centers.
It must be noted that the images have already been available to the public. NASA has been working with the Internet Archive to make available images and video from the agency's past.
However, some images are now shared on Flickr as well, and more will come at a later date, to enable others to comment on them and to make them more visible to the public.
"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," Debbie Rivera, lead for the NASA Images project, said.
"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," she added.