Research Over The Moon with Google Earth
Google is celebrating 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on moon with the addition of moon model on Google Earth. No upgrade is required for exploring, all you need to do is to click on planet button on top toolbar and select moon.
The first female private space explorer, Anousheh Ansari who is a trustee of X PRIZE Foundation announced the official released of Moon in Google Earth. Listing out Important points from Google Lat Long blog:
- Several Apollo landing missions are entered into Google Earth which provide pictures, mission stories and videos.
- This will be new addition after Sky viewing and Mars exploration by Google Earth.
- Guided tour of Apollo 11 is narrated by Andrew Chaikin with additional audio from austronaut Buzz Aldrin, the 2nd moonwalker to Neil Armstrong [source]. To view this tour, go to Moon Gallery > Guided Tours > Apollo 11.
- Layers contain location and information on every spacecraft that ever landed or crashed.
- Historical maps layer lets you see what NASA itself uses to analyze Apollo missions.
If you do not have Google Earth installed, then also you can enjoy moon viewing from Google Maps of Moon.
One thing that I miss on this occasion is a dedicated Google logo for this event. Anyway, YouTube and Bing have shown their affection by showing special logos for the day as displayed below.
Earth has been conquered by Google. Now it’s time for the moon.