Explore astronaut images and help study our planet Earth with Image Detective, the newest CSP to launch here on CosmoQuest! Image Detective asks you to help make NASA’s catalog of more than 1.5 million photographs more useful for Earth Scientists who are studying how our planet changes due to weather, geology, agriculture, and urbanization.

As part of their day-to-day work on the International Space Station, astronauts are scheduled to take numerous photos of our planet Earth and its cosmic environs, including the Moon, and other background sky objects. The majority of these images are taken to meet specific research goals, such as documenting forest fires or algae blooms. Unfortunately, these images aren’t well labeled, and this is where the public’s help is required; using Image Detective, you can identify what geo-science and other features are in the images, and where on Earth the photo is centered. By adding metadata to images, scientists and the public will be able to effectively search through an upcoming online catalog of these images.

Since construction began in 2000, more than 200 people from 15 nations have visited the International Space Station. Orbiting just 250 miles above the Earth, this platform provides astronaut photographers an amazing platform for imaging our planet. The data provided through Image Detective will allow even more science to be completed. Currently, the images are something like a photojournalist’s unused B-Roll. The negatives may be labeled with data and the assignment, but the details are missing. These images may be great for future use, or mostly just mostly dark, but without proper labeling no one will know. The work of citizen scientists will spread the work across the world, allowing people to enjoy the images’ beauty without falling prey to the tedium.

Want to give Image Detective a try? Click over to the app page!