Amundsen-Scott Mars Station

This is a photo of Amundsen-Scott Mars Station (Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station) in Antarctica. A full moon and 25 second exposure allowed sufficient light into this photo taken at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station during the long Antarctic night. The new research station can be seen at far left, the power plant in the center and the old mechanic's garage in the lower right of the photo. Red lights are used outside during the winter darkness as their spectrum does not pollute the sky, allowing scientists to conduct astrophysical studies without artificial light interference. A background of green light can be seen in the photo. This is the Aurora Australis, which dances through the sky virtually all the time during the long Antarctic night in winter. The photo's surreal appearance makes the station look like a futuristic Mars Station.

Français: Vue de la station américaine Amundsen-Scott au pôle sud, éclairée par la pleine lune, durant la longue nuit polaire. La nouvelle station est visible tout à gauche, la centrale électrique au centre et l'ancien atelier de mécanique en bas à droite. Durant la nuit polaire, seule la lumière rouge est utilisée pour limiter la pollution lumineuse et ne pas perturber les expériences d'astrophysique menées dans la base. La lumière verte est due aux aurores australes qui sont quasi-permanentes durant la nuit polaire. L'apparence surréaliste de la photo fait penser à une base futuriste sur Mars.

Date: July 2005

Author: Photo by Chris Danals, National Science Foundation

Original photo specifications/details: Dimension = 3072 × 2048 pixels, file size = 1.85 MB, type = image/jpeg.

About the photo when downloaded: Click on the photo to see the photo that you can download. It is reduced in pixels and file size. It is good enough for ordinary purposes. However, if you need the original dimension and size as above for high quality applications, copy of the original can be sent to you by email for a handling charge US$ 2 only through Paypal, if you record your requirement with email in the comment box.

Permission for reusing this image/ licensing: This photo is the work of a National Science Foundation employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. Federal Government, this is a public domain photo. You are free to download and use this photo without asking for any specific permission. However, a link back to this site or post URL will be highly appreciated.

Fryxellsee, Antarctic blue ice covering Lake Fryxell

The blue ice covering Lake Fryxell, in the Transantarctic Mountains, comes from glacial melt-water from the Canada Glacier and other smaller glaciers. The freshwater stays on top of the lake and freezes, sealing in briny water below.

Français: Antarctique: La glace bleue couvrant le Lac Fryxell, dans la Chaîne Transantarctique, vient des eaux de fonte du Glacier Canada et d'autres glaciers plus petits. L'eau fraîche se trouve au sommet du lac et gèle, scellant une eau saumâtre située en-dessous.

Source Date: 10.12.2002

Source Author: Joe Mastroianni, National Science Foundation

Permission for reusing this image: This image is a work of a National Science Foundation employee, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. Federal Government, the image is in the public domain images and can be copied from here and used by any person.

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$1 currency note series of 1917 of the United States

This is a public domain image of $1 currency note series of 1917 of the United States. Image dimension 640 × 279 pixels, file size: 62.3 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg, a unit of currency issued by the United States of America. It is solely a work of the United States government, is ineligible for copyright, and is therefore in the public domain. Fraudulent use of this image is punishable under applicable counterfeiting laws. Both one-dollar coins and notes are issued currently. But the note form is more common. In the past, paper money was occasionally issued in denominations less than a dollar (fractional currency) and gold coins were issued for circulation up to the value of $20 (known as the "double eagle", discontinued in the 1930s).

Alan B. Shepard, the first American in space

American Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, one of the original seven astronauts for Mercury Project selected by NASA photographed on April 27, 1959. The “Freedom 7” spacecraft boosted by Mercury-Redstone rocket for the MR-3 mission made the first manned suborbital flight and Astronaut Shepard became the first American in space.

This photo shows Shepard and Freedom 7 after recovery. A recovery helicopter that had been watching Freedom 7 lifted Shepard into the helicopter (HMM-262 Seabat), after he splashed down and came out. Both the Freedom 7 and the astronaut were then flown to the deck of the nearby recovery carrier, the USS Lake Champlain. Freedom 7, now on display in the lobby of the Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center, at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, was placed there after Shepard's death in 1998.

Redstone rocket and NASA's Mercury Freedom 7 with Alan Shepard

The above photo is of the May 5, 1961 launch of Redstone rocket and NASA's Mercury Freedom 7 with Alan Shepard on the United States' first manned sub-orbital spaceflight.

Mercury-Redstone 3 was a human crewed space mission launched on May 5, 1961 using a Redstone rocket, from Launch Complex 5 (LC-5) at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Mercury capsule was named “Freedom 7” which performed a suborbital flight piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard, who became the first American in space as a result of this mission. The flight lasted less than 16 minutes and attained an altitude of just over 187 km.

Unlike the earlier Soviet Vostok 1 flight (of erstwhile USSR, now Russia), Shepard did not orbit the earth, but simply went up and down. Such a launch required a less powerful rocket and simpler guidance. He did, however, become the first astronaut to safely return to Earth inside his vehicle, whereas the Soviet cosmonaut parachuted out of his vehicle prior to landing. The Russian Vostok 1’s passenger Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to go to the space.

Seascape Valentine Card 1900

Whitney Valentine, 1887

This card was produced after Esther Howland sold her New England Valentine Company to the George C. Whitney Company in 1881 (owned by Charles Whitney, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

Valentine card 1862

St Valentine's Day card, embossed and printed in colour, with silk panel and printed message, "My Dearest Miss, I send thee a kiss", addressed to Miss Jenny Lane (or Lowe, or Love) of Crostwight Hall, Smallburgh, Norfolk. This card is of high antique value. Send this Valentine card of 1862 for Valentines Day. It is worth a hundred valentine greeting cards you can buy now.

Handwritten Valentine poem

Handwritten Valentine poem, "To Susanna", from Cork, Ireland dated Valentine's Day, 1850.

This image of greeting card is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923. This image might not be in the public domain outside the United States.

Esther Howland Valentine Card

The above image shows a Valentine card produced by Esther Howland in 1850 AD that has the message, "Weddings now are all the go, will you marry me or no". This is a public domain image and you are free to use the above classic beauty of a card by downloading or saving the image to your hard disk.

As Leigh Eric Schmidt, a writer in Graham's American Monthly, observed in 1849 that Saint Valentine's Day had become a national holiday in the United States. The first mass-produced Valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold in the United States, shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts. Esther Howland took her inspiration for producing the cards from an English Valentine card she had received. The practice of sending Valentine's cards had existed in England before it became popular in North America. Since 2001, the U.S. Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary."