Search Photos

The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth hosts the best and most complete online collection of astronaut photographs of the Earth from 1961 through the present. Found below are several different methods to search through our database.

Search by Geographical Feature

If you have a particular feature in mind, use the "Search by Geographical Feature" tool to enter the feature name. Search with a city name, geological feature (mountain, volcano, ocean), or other similar features. You may also narrow down your search by specifying the region of the feature of interest. If you have further filtering needs, expand the "Advanced Search Options" section to narrow your search.


in*
Include in search:




Advanced Search Options


GeoTIFF Search Only
The GeoTIFF search looks for the specified term in metadata associated with images that have a GeoTIFF available. It does not use the database. So the "GeoTIFF Search Only" option is preferred if you require the results to have a GeoTIFF available. Using the "GeoTIFF Search Only" option, since it does not use the database and the other fields on this form apply to database searches, will ignore the other choices you've made on this form except the "I am looking for..." feature search string.

Camera Tilt:*



Cloud Cover:








Minimum Sun Elevation:


Maximum Sun Elevation:





*Selection of this item will restrict results to cataloged photos.

Search by Map Area

Use the map below to search for an image within a defined area. Zoom and pan so that the area visible on the map is the area you wish to search. Click "Search for Photos" to submit the search.
Southern-most Latitude: Northern-most Latitude: Western-most Longitude: Eastern-most Longitude:
If an area is defined in the coordinate fields above then it takes precedence over the map view. Units are degrees. For details see the map usage guide.
Select missions or none for all:
International Space Station







































































Shuttle





































































































































NASA MIR





Apollo/Soyuz Test Project
Skylab


Apollo












Gemini









Mercury









Include:
Illumination


Cataloged/Uncataloged






Search Using Other Methods

The two search options below are more advanced, and for the user that has specific criteria in mind when searching through the astronaut photography database.
Search using NASA Photo IDs (List of missions)
Choose a filter (optional)
Both all cataloged and not cataloged
Cataloged with center point
Cataloged without a center point
Not cataloged
Has a caption
Has a cloud mask
Enter one or several NASA IDs in Mission-Roll-Frame format e.g. ISS039-E-12345, separated by line breaks and/or spaces and/or commas. You can specify frame ranges by using Mission-Roll-Frame1-Frame2 e.g. ISS039-E-1000-2000. You can specify all frames for a roll by leaving off the frame part e.g. STS110-740. You can specify all images in a mission by leaving off the roll and frame portions of the ID e.g. ISS001. You can find a list of missions at this link and in the selection list for the map on this page.

Only list frames for the specified mission(s) in each database table. The options above and any rolls and frames used in the search box are ignored when using this option.
Display frame numbers using ranges. Display frame numbers individually. These only apply if the Only list... checkbox is checked.

Using this search feature allows you to search database for astronaut photography that has not yet been cataloged. When an image is cataloged, the image center point is identified with a latitude and longitude, along with features seen in the photograph and a percentage of cloud cover. While there is a large portion of our database that is cataloged, there is also a portion that has not yet been cataloged.

There are several ways to use this search feature. You may search by one or several of the options below to narrow down your search. The more data fields you fill in, the more specific your search will be.


Insert mission number with ISS at beginning of query. For example, searching for Expedition 40 will be "ISS040". A List of missions is at this link and in the selection list for the map on this page.


If the start date is filled in and the end date is left blank, then only photos on the start date will be returned.



Both start and end times must be filled in if either is filled in.




The sun elevation angles can be negative numbers, which will result in nighttime imagery.



Cloud Cover:






It is not necessarily the case that all photos were evaluated for cloud cover. So this may exclude some for the specified ranges.
An API is also available for searching of the photography database: API Information