Astronauts have taken photographs of the Earth from space since the beginning of the space program more than 30 years ago. Today, NASA's Earth Sciences and Image Analysis office offers nearly 400,000 of these images to the public on their Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth Web site. The database can be accessed in several ways including a clickable map of the earth, photo number, technical search, through the cities collection, by mission highlights, and by several other criteria. The site, which is quite addictive, includes some truly spectacular images that are surprisingly easy to browse and search especially through the clickable map interface. Although it does not contain much educational value, this unique resource is definitely worth exploring.
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