This is slightly tangential but not entirely since you seem to be a bit of a connoisseur of NASA imagery… It seems to me that during the past year or so NASA has really stepped up the quality of images and videos released to the public. I find myself asking “Why couldn’t they have done this all along?”. For example, this fisheye photo gallery from STS-134 currently on orbit is stunning:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-28/ndxpage35.html

Has the end of the shuttle program finally made NASA more cognizant of the importance of high quality photodocumentation?

Perhaps I’m just appreciating the images more now that the end is near? Perhaps the images are more impressive now that ISS is complete? Perhaps the images are circulated more now due to social media? Perhaps advances in digital photography make better images possible now?

Those reasons may all be true, but I think that NASA has become more media saavy as well. It’s nice to see, although it makes one wonder what might have been (and what could be).

-abe.