Center for Earth and Planetary Studies

The Center for Earth and Planetary Studies is a research institute affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. Based in Washington, DC, the Center, which was founded in 1972, conducts scientific research related to planetary science, geophysics and the biophysical environment. As a Regional Planetary Image Facility, the Center hosts for NASA data including images and maps of planets and their satellites. It also houses images taken by the Space Shuttle. Both of these date collections are accessible to researchers. The Center, which is located at the National Air and Space Museum, curates two of its galleries, Exploring the Planet and Looking at Earth, as well as contributing elsewhere in the museum.also it has planes

Research
Among other research, the Center is studying the tectonic history of the planet Mercury, developing geologic maps of Venus, researching geomorphology on Earth, and exploring terrain formation through Mars.