Image sources to integrate (2026-07-06)

First-party / official image sources Marko found during the off-subject re-source effort. These beat Commons keyword-search (which poisoned juice → orange juice). Goal: add each as a primary source adapter in scripts/agency-mission-sources.ts (currently NASA-API only → else Commons), tried BEFORE the Commons failover, filtered by the new fetch quality-gate.

The sources

Source	URL	Access	License (VERIFY per-image)	Best for
NASA on Unsplash	https://unsplash.com/@nasa	Unsplash API	Unsplash License (free, no attribution required)	NASA missions, hero-grade
SpaceX on Unsplash	https://unsplash.com/@spacex	Unsplash API	Unsplash License	SpaceX (official moved here)
SpaceX Flickr	https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/	Flickr API	SpaceX releases CC0 / public domain	SpaceX launches, hardware
NASA galleries	https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/	HTML scrape	Public domain (US Gov)	recent missions (e.g. blue-origin-blue-moon-mark-1), KSC/shuttle history (ksc-history)
ESA photo library	https://photolibrary.esa.int/albums/	HTML scrape / API?	ESA standard (usually CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO — attribution)	ESA missions (JUICE, Rosetta, Mars Express, BepiColombo, ...)

Marko-flagged standouts: nasa.gov/gallery/blue-origin-blue-moon-mark-1/, nasa.gov/gallery/ksc-history/ (spectacular shuttle imagery).

Licensing — the gating concern (the pipeline enforces CC/PD + credit + no-watermark)

• NASA gov / NASA-on-Unsplash: public domain / free — cleanest.
• SpaceX Flickr: SpaceX explicitly releases CC0 — cleanest.
• SpaceX/NASA on Unsplash: the Unsplash License is permissive (free, no attribution required) but is NOT strictly CC0/PD — confirm it clears the pipeline's CC/PD bar (validate-data license allowlist) before shipping, and record the right license_short/license_url in provenance.
• ESA photo library: usually CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO → attribution REQUIRED; must land the ESA credit in provenance + on /credits.

Every adapter must return, per image: image_url, title, author/credit, license_short, license_url, source_url. No credit → don't land it.

Integration approach (reusable adapters)

1. Extend AgencyPrimarySourceTag + fetchAgencyPrimaryImageUrls with per-source adapters. Each takes { missionId, agency, name/target } → candidate list.
2. Order of preference per mission/agency (extend WIKIMEDIA_*_FALLBACK idea): agency-official (NASA gov / ESA portal) → agency-Unsplash/Flickr → Commons.
3. All candidates flow through the fetch quality-gate (score-and-reject infographics/diagrams/people/off-subject) already wired into fill-gallery-gaps — so a bad official image is still dropped.
4. API keys: Unsplash + Flickr need app keys (add to .env; document in the image-pipeline guide). NASA gov + ESA are scrapes (fragile — pin selectors + snapshot-test).

Suggested priority

1. Unsplash (NASA + SpaceX) and SpaceX Flickr — clean public APIs + permissive licenses → highest value, lowest effort. Covers SpaceX + modern NASA.
2. NASA galleries scrape — public domain, great for recent missions + KSC history.
3. ESA photo library — the ESA-mission fix (JUICE, Rosetta, ...); scrape + CC BY-SA attribution handling.

Each is a self-contained adapter = a permanent investment, reused by every future fetch + the 98-image re-source batch.