Where to Find NASA's Best Space Photos and How to Get Them
NASA offers a vast free library of images and videos, but it's not easy to navigate. This article provides tips on accessing these resources for stunning space content.
Although the Artemis II mission produced impressive images, including a photo of Earth from over 250,000 miles away and shots from inside the Orion capsule captured with an iPhone 17 Pro Max, many don't know that NASA makes its entire library available to the public. Because NASA is funded by the U.S. government, most published media is in the public domain.
To help you explore, here are the main resources. The first is the NASA Image and Video Library — the most comprehensive collection, featuring images, videos, and audio from astronaut photos to satellite imagery. Newest uploads appear first, but you can also see trending content. Each item includes detailed information, including EXIF data that might reveal if a picture was taken with an iPhone 17 Pro Max. However, browsing can be difficult without specific search terms; common keywords return many pages of results.
The second resource is NASA Images, which is less comprehensive but better organized. It features a NASA Image of the Day and an archive, as well as collections grouped by telescope or mission. Downloading is straightforward, though less information is provided for each image.
Third, the NASA Johnson Flickr account holds over 63,500 photos neatly organized into albums. Searching and downloading are easy, and you can follow the account for updates. However, it only includes images from the Johnson Space Center, and uploads may be delayed.
Finally, NASA's social media accounts (X, Instagram, Facebook) are suitable for occasional browsing, but downloading high-resolution content can be tricky. Additionally, there are many accounts to follow, such as those for Artemis missions, the International Space Station, or the Webb telescope.
