Regional Planetary Image Facility

The UK NASA RPIF is held by UCL, one of only seven outside the USA. Our task is to provide information and data not only to professional researchers in the UK, but also the general public, students, media, school-children and their teachers about planetary missions and their latest findings.

Our archive includes images and other data from almost all of the NASA planetary missions since the 1960's, covering all the planetary bodies in the solar system which have been surveyed to date by spacecraft.

The data are in the form of photographic prints, negatives, slides, maps, mission information, planetary publications, and CD-ROMS. Much of the data and many of the publications are rare and cannot be found anywhere else. We are unable to provide or sell hard copies of our data, and operate as a browse only facility. Assistance with finding data in the facility can be given by RPIF members, who also frequently give school talks and provide general information on NASA planetary missions.

The RPIF forms part of The Geology Collections, part of UCL Museums & Collections. As part of this, the RPIF is normally open to the public on the third Wedensday of the month, from 12.00 to 13.00, but it's usually best to get in touch before you visit.

We also have an annual open house, with tours and talks all day. This is usually in November, and coincides with the Festival of Geology, run by the Geologists' Association at UCL.

To visit the RPIF, browse the data, or make a general enquiry, click Contact.