The International Polar Year (IPY) is an international effort to collect relevant scientific data of the Earth's polar regions.
These data are crucial to understand how processes at the high latitudes influence global climate and climate changes. For more
information on our collaboration with IPY 2007-2008, click here.
13,384,557 web hits &
836,676 database
photo image downloads in August 2008
Server Statistics >>
The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth hosts the best and most complete online collection of astronaut photographs of the Earth.
Beginning with the Mercury missions in the early 1960s, astronauts have taken photographs of the Earth. Our database
tracks the locations, supporting data, and digital images for these photographs. We process images coming down from the
International Space Station on a daily basis and add them to the 770,668
views of the Earth already made accessible on our website. These images include 324,812
from the International Space Station.
These numbers were determined 9/1/2008. See database content summary for more details.
British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle stated, "Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from outside, is available - once the
sheer isolation of the Earth becomes known - a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose."