The Greatest Release of High Quality NASA Photographs

GRIN (Greatest Release Images by NASA) is a huge collection of historical space culture images digitally scanned for public access. Intended specifically for media, publishers, and the general public looking for high-quality photographs, the GRIN database is full of striking digital and analog exposures taken throughout a pivotal point in American History.

I spent a few hours searching through this vast database the other night. I kept searching different and unique key words that would pull up the most wild photographs from this antiquated generation of technology. It is impossible to overlook the giant leaps of progress these images represent. Surely "Top Secret" imagery at one time; GRIN hosts a wealth of photos from test flights, shuttle landings, and space race relics indicative of a time when the public's gaze was half crooked upwards to the newest frontier. As a child of the eighties, the Space Shuttle was an icon of my generation. It is beyond incredible to see these images in original, sequential format. I stopped on one image, it depicted a large gathering of Winnebagos, campers, and swarms of specks (people) gathering in the deserts to witness state of the art aircraft testing, the aero envelope being pushed, and history being written before their eyes.

Some images tell the harrowing stories of the Air Force test pilots pushing the limits and breaking predetermined boundaries of aeronautical speed. The endless collection of images depict historical benchmarks in NASA programs over the last 40 plus years. The database is completely free to the public. The images are created with the sole mission of giving media access to some of NASA's greatest images.

Whether you're a aerophile, or a just a big kid still staring up at the stars, these images are a must see to fill the dream we all had of becoming an astronaut. 

(via GRIN)