Gregory, I fear that there might be some sort of misunderstanding here.
I think that we all share the same ideal of information sharing.
However, practically, there are constraints with which we have to
accomodate.
In this case, we might wish that the CNES put their photographs in the
Public Domain, but our wishes are irrelevant because this is
impossible. (Furthermore, I feel that you are quite unfair to the
CNES, because it is not their choice anyway).
Since we are already using non-free images under "fair use"
conditions, I fail to understand how the "if it's not Free it sucks"
type of discourse is relevant.
The question is that, *practically*, there are Wikipedia which for
different reasons do not have Fair Use provision ; that there is a
legitimate need for some photographs ; and that we have people quite
willing to share their photographs as much as they possibly can.
In this respect, it is legitimate to wonder whether Wikipedia which to
not have Fair Use might allow themselves to use these images. Lyrical
discourses relying on the Judgement of History contribute little to
the discussion.
-- Rama