posted 12-29-2008 05:32 PM               

Image Fortress Launches Online Archive of World's Space Exploration Imagery

Image Fortress today announced that it has launched the International Space Archives, an online digital library organizing the vast collections of still and video imagery produced by the manned and unmanned space programs of the world. Over the past fifty years, the space programs in the United States and other countries have amassed extensive volumes of still and motion picture photography that has been largely inaccessible to the public. The International Space Archives has been designed to make this incredible collection of imagery available to a worldwide audience.

"The International Space Archives is bringing together, for the first time, the best of the still and video imagery produced by these space exploration programs in one comprehensive, well-organized collection," according to Stewart Cheifet, president of the Media Division of Image Fortress. "The photos, films and videos in the archive are coming from a variety of sources including NASA and the space programs of Russia, Japan, China, India, the European Union, and others. Also included in the archives will be the new imagery produced by both the national space programs and the various private space programs that are emerging to allow private citizens to experience the wonder and excitement of space travel."

"As NASA completes its 50th anniversary celebration in 2008 and commemorates the 40th anniversary of the historic Apollo 8 manned mission to the moon, it is fitting to launch this online archive designed to preserve and make easily accessible to a worldwide audience the incredible visual history of space exploration," said Cheifet.

The International Space Archives will include photos, films, and videos from the more than forty countries that have space exploration and research programs, adding still and video imagery from these programs on a daily basis.

About Image Fortress Corporation

Headquartered in Westford, MA, Image Fortress Corporation is a leading provider to government and private organizations of fully automated, online digital archiving services that ensure the secure, long-term preservation and integrity of electronic documents and still and video imagery. The company's family of DigitalFortress(TM) online digital archiving services is compliant with ISO's Digital Archiving standards and with the National Archives and Records Administration requirements and regulations for Federal government electronic records archiving. The Media Division of Image Fortress operates digital image archives created especially to preserve and make easily accessible historic, rare and one-of-a-kind still and video imagery that chronicles all aspects of the human experience.

posted 12-29-2008 07:58 PM               

• Example 1: A search for Armstrong returns 26 matches, whereas NASA Images returns 532.

• Example 2: A search for Leonov returns 0 results, whereas NASA Images return 64.

posted 12-30-2008 02:48 AM               

I may be a bit biased here, but the image discs that J.L. Pickering is producing (with some help from me here and there) contain a wealth of images that is hard to match and that even NASA will probably never all put online. J.L. has a unique collection of photos and the prices he charges for the image discs are ridiculous. For a fraction of the price for one scan from, say, Corbis or LIFE, you can have hundreds of unique photos documenting a complete mission, including scores that even I had never seen before.

OK, had to get that off my chest

posted 01-08-2009 04:16 PM               

Image Fortress competed against Internet Archive to have an official role working with NASA to create a site combing all NASA's existing media collections, and making new ones available. The project was eventually awarded to Internet Archive. I believe the fact that Internet Archive is a non-profit and Image Fortress is for-profit was a factor in the decision.

After the project was awarded, Internet Archive looked for a way to work with Image Fortress as a partner in the project, but Image Fortress wanted to manage the entire project, which was not acceptable to Internet Archive, or NASA for that matter.

Image Fortress then hired someone from Internet Archive who had intimate knowledge of Internet Archive's plans and they have now launched their own site.