CosmosObservatory
Explore
Solar System
Live
Learn
Tools
About
Cosmos Observatory
ToolsAbout
Cosmos Observatory

Explore the universe through NASA data, real-time ISS tracking, Mars rover imagery, asteroid monitoring, and comprehensive space encyclopedia. Your gateway to the cosmos.

Explore

  • APOD
  • Mars Rovers
  • Earth Imagery
  • NASA Gallery
  • ISS Tracker

Data

  • Asteroids
  • Solar System
  • Exoplanets
  • Space Weather
  • Launches

Tools

  • Glossary
  • News
  • Calculators

Legal

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Space Tools
  • Contact

Stay updated with the cosmos

Get weekly digests of APOD highlights, upcoming launches, and space events.

© 2026 Cosmos Observatory. All rights reserved. Built with for space enthusiasts.

This website is not affiliated with, maintained, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with NASA or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. All NASA imagery is in the public domain unless otherwise noted. Data sourced from NASA Open APIs, Launch Library 2, and other open data services.

NASA Gallery

Explore NASA's vast collection of space images, videos, and audio from missions past and present.

  1. Home
  2. /
  3. NASA Gallery

NASA's Image and Video Library: A Visual Archive of Space Exploration

NASA's Image and Video Library is one of the most comprehensive public archives of space imagery in the world, containing over 140,000 images, videos, and audio recordings spanning more than six decades of space exploration. From the earliest Mercury and Gemini missions through the Apollo Moon landings, the Space Shuttle era, and today's cutting-edge observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, this collection documents humanity's journey into the cosmos.

The library includes imagery from diverse sources: telescopes like Hubble and Webb that capture deep-space nebulae, galaxies, and exoplanets; planetary missions like the Mars rovers ( browse Mars photos) and Cassini at Saturn; Earth observation satellites ( see EPIC imagery); astronaut photography from the ISS; and documentation of rocket launches, spacecraft assembly, and ground testing. Most NASA images are in the public domain and free to download at full resolution for educational, editorial, and personal use.

Use the search bar above to find specific subjects — try queries like "Apollo 11," "Hubble Deep Field," "Mars surface," or "astronaut EVA." You can also filter by media type (image, video, or audio). For a daily curated experience, visit the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Showing results for "Polar-Orbiting"

1,970 results found - Page 8 of 83

NASA image: LOFTID Spacecraft Arrival
Image
Aug 15, 2022

LOFTID Spacecraft Arrival

NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, arrives by cargo truck at Vandenberg...

KSC
NASA image: LOFTID Spacecraft EDR Install
Image
Aug 19, 2022

LOFTID Spacecraft EDR Install

Technicians work on installing ejectable data recorders onto NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable...

KSC
NASA image: LOFTID Spacecraft EDR Install
Image
Aug 19, 2022

LOFTID Spacecraft EDR Install

Inside Building 836 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, a worker inspects and prepares hardware used...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Irene Parker, deputy assistant administrator, NOAA Systems, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Services,...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

NASA held a prelaunch news conference for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Omar Baez, launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program, participates in a prelaunch news conference for the...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Tim Walsh, director, NOAA’s JPSS Program Office, NOAA, participates in a prelaunch news conference for the National...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Gary Wentz, vice president, Government and Commercial Programs, ULA, participates in a prelaunch news conference for...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

John Gagosian, director, NASA’s Joint Agency Satellite Division, participates in a prelaunch news conference for the...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Omar Baez, launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program, participates in a prelaunch news conference for the...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

NASA held a prelaunch news conference for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Capt. Zack Zounes, launch weather officer, U.S. Space Force, participates in a prelaunch news conference for the...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Megan Cruz, NASA Communications, moderates a prelaunch news conference for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, participates in a prelaunch...

KSC
NASA image: Aqua Satellite Orbiting Earth Artist Concept
Image
May 8, 2002

Aqua Satellite Orbiting Earth Artist Concept

NASA Aqua satellite carries six state-of-the-art instruments in a near-polar low-Earth orbit. Aqua is seen in this...

JPL
NASA image: Drag Folds in the North Polar Layered Deposits
Image
Jun 1, 2016

Drag Folds in the North Polar Layered Deposits

These North Polar layered deposits, composed of ice, captured by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, show...

JPL
NASA image: JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference
Image
Oct 28, 2022

JPSS-2/LOFTID Prelaunch News Conference

NASA held a prelaunch news conference for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar...

KSC
NASA image: LOFTID Spacecraft Uncrating
Image
Aug 16, 2022

LOFTID Spacecraft Uncrating

NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) arrives for processing inside Building 836...

KSC
NASA image: LOFTID Spacecraft Uncrating
Image
Aug 16, 2022

LOFTID Spacecraft Uncrating

NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) arrives for processing inside Building 836...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2 Boat Tail Transport and Mate
Image
Oct 4, 2022

JPSS-2 Boat Tail Transport and Mate

Inside the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, technicians secure the...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2 Boat Tail Transport and Mate
Image
Jan 25, 2014

JPSS-2 Boat Tail Transport and Mate

Inside the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, technicians monitor the...

KSC
NASA image: JPSS-2 Boat Tail Transport and Mate
Image
Oct 4, 2022

JPSS-2 Boat Tail Transport and Mate

Technicians lower the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V boattail onto the rocket’s Centaur upper stage inside the...

KSC
NASA image: KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA.  - This logo for the Gravity Probe B mission portrays the theory of curved spacetime and "frame-dragging," developed by Einstein and other scientists, that the mission will test.  The Gravity Probe B will launch a payload of four gyroscopes into low-Earth polar orbit. Once in orbit, for 18 months each gyroscope’s spin axis will be monitored as it travels through local spacetime, observing and measuring the effects.  The experiment was developed by Stanford University, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Lockheed Martin.
Image
Oct 30, 2003

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - This logo for the Gravity Probe B mission portrays the theory of curved spacetime and "frame-dragging," developed by Einstein and other scientists, that the mission will test. The Gravity Probe B will launch a payload of four gyroscopes into low-Earth polar orbit. Once in orbit, for 18 months each gyroscope’s spin axis will be monitored as it travels through local spacetime, observing and measuring the effects. The experiment was developed by Stanford University, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Lockheed Martin.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - This logo for the Gravity Probe B mission portrays the theory of curved spacetime and...

KSC
NASA image: Earth
Image
Jan 30, 2012

Earth

Behold one of the more detailed images of the Earth yet created. This Blue Marble Earth montage shown above --...

JPL
PreviousPage 8 of 83Next

Frequently Asked Questions About NASA Images

Are NASA images free to use?+
Yes, most NASA images are in the public domain and are free to use for educational, informational, and personal purposes. NASA's media usage guidelines state that NASA material is not copyrighted unless otherwise noted. However, the NASA logo and certain insignia are protected. Some images may include identifiable individuals or third-party content that requires additional permissions. Always check the specific image's usage rights and credit NASA as the source.
How many images does NASA have?+
NASA's Image and Video Library contains over 140,000 publicly accessible images, videos, and audio files spanning the agency's entire history, from the Mercury program of the 1960s to the latest James Webb Space Telescope discoveries. The collection grows daily as new missions capture imagery and archival materials are digitized. Individual mission archives, such as Mars rover photos, contain hundreds of thousands of additional images.
Can I download NASA images?+
Yes, you can download NASA images in multiple resolutions directly from this gallery. Each image detail page provides download links for original (full resolution), large (1920px), medium (960px), small (480px), and thumbnail sizes. NASA encourages the public to use these images for education, media, and personal projects. High-resolution originals are ideal for printing and professional use.

Explore More NASA Content

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Daily curated space image

Mars Rover Photos

Curiosity & Perseverance images

Earth from Space

DSCOVR EPIC daily images

Launch Schedule

Upcoming rocket launches

Space News

Mission updates & discoveries