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Google Moon Debuts
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Wed Jul 20, 2005 07:51 AM
from the i-thought-we-faked-the-moon-landing dept.
from the i-thought-we-faked-the-moon-landing dept.
Ian writes "From the FAQ: 'One small step for Google...
On July 20, 1969, man first landed on the Moon. A few decades later, we're pleased to cut you in on the action. Google Moon is an extension of Google Maps and Google Earth that, courtesy of NASA imagery (thanks, guys!), enables you to surf the Moon's surface and check out the exact spots that the Apollo astronauts made their landings.'"
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Science: China Sets Sights on Comprehensive Lunar Survey 122 comments
eldavojohn writes "Perhaps unsatisfied with the closeups that Google Moon has to offer, China has decided to survey the moon down to the 'inch'. In the second half of 2007, they plan to launch an unmanned lunar satellite to first orbit the moon, land on the moon & then return samples to earth for them to analyze. '"The moon probe project is the third milestone in China's space technology after satellite and manned spacecraft projects, and a first step for us in exploring deep space," the China National Space Administration head said. The orbiter represented the first phase, with a moon rover to be used in the second phase scheduled for around 2012, reports said. The plan for the third phase, scheduled for around 2017, was for another rover to land on the lunar surface and collect samples before returning to Earth.'"
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Google Moon Debuts
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Conspiracy! (Score:5, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Monday March 07 2005, @12:44PM)
Goatse (Score:4, Funny)
But don't zoom in!
Re:Conspiracy! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Conspiracy! (Score:5, Informative)
Exploring the Apollo Landing Sites [swri.edu]
lets you click thru pictures to zoom in farther and farther, using pics from earth- and orbit-based telescopes, as well as photos from the orbiters and command modules.
some are good enough resolution that you can see the lander, albeit barely. you can see the rover tracks in all of them though.
Re:Conspiracy! (Score:4, Funny)
You'd think they would've at least been smart enough to scatter the tracks with a broom so those in the tin-foil hat mafia with nice telescopes wouldn't be able to unravel the mystery so easily.
Re:Conspiracy! (Score:5, Informative)
(http://slashdot.org/)
Awesome... (Score:5, Funny)
HaHa (Score:5, Informative)
Example 1:
From their FAQ [google.com]:
4. Is Google Moon a result of your Copernicus initiative?
Glad you asked, and yes, the development of our lunar hosting and research center [google.com] continues apace. We usually don't announce future products in advance, but in this case, yes, we can confirm that on July 20th, 2069, in honor of the 100th anniversary of mankind's first manned lunar landing, Google will fully integrate Google Local search capabilities into Google Moon, which will allow our users to quickly find lunar business addresses, numbers and hours of operation, among other valuable forms of Moon-oriented local information.
Example 2:
On moon.google.com, if you zoom all the way in on the moon the imagery changes from satellite shots of the moon to a cheese template. Sense of humor at it's finest.
Looking forward to see what they come with next.
Side note: Does Google still offer satellite imagery of Mars in Google Earth? It was offered when it was Keyhole.
Re:HaHa (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://www.veryshortpier.com/)
Well, The Register [theregister.co.uk] says they don't have a sense of humour...
Re:HaHa (Score:5, Funny)
(http://zachnichols.com/jason)
I emailed lunarjobs@google.com about their available positions. It seems everyone else got to them first ^_^
"From: lunarjobs@google.com
Thank you for contacting Google about our Copernicus Research Center.
We've received an overwhelming response to this opportunity and are not
currently accepting additional resumes. We will, however, keep your
information on file should we have an opening in the future. At the
current staffing levels, we anticipate that we may need additional
applicants on or around April Fool's Day in 2104. Until then, we
appreciate your interest in Google and your taking the time to write us.
Sincerely,
The Googlunar Recruiting Team"
Obligatory joke coming.. (Score:5, Funny)
I, for one, welcome our new Moon overlords.
Now we can all see the studio. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Now we can all see the studio. (Score:5, Funny)
(http://rasher.dk/)
<moviemaker> Sir, to realisticly fake this moonlanding, we need special gravity conditions.
<superior> Like what?
<moviemaker> Well, the best place to film it would be.. on.. you know, the moon.
<superior> We can arrange that.
Just shows that the real money is in movie-making.
Falsified (Score:5, Funny)
You bastards, you've slashdotted GOOGLE! (Score:5, Funny)
Cool (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://www.nps.gov/c...reation/ohioerie.htm)
This moon feature is beyond cool- but may be another productivity sapping item for me at work. What I wonder is if we will get full zooming. My understanding is that google maps is purposely limited so people can't "see swingsets" in back yards (i.e. pedophiles).
What will this do to Hoagland's career if they do this for other planets, say Mars? Is Cydonia over?
Urban Legends (Score:5, Informative)
This is of course hogwash. Google will actually tell you how current their data is (can't remember how to look this up at the moment), and besides, there are MANY instances of pretty new buildings and construction (well under a year old) that show up very clearly.
I've even shown examples of this to people who know full well what date a building/overpass/etc went up, and they still insist on parroting this legend. Urban legends die hard.
Re:Cool (Score:5, Informative)
(http://www.nps.gov/c...reation/ohioerie.htm)
Link here.... http://news.com.com/Quote+of+the+day+Cant+see+you
Text: Quote of the day: 'Can't see your swing set' Published: May 19, 2005, 12:00 PM PDT By CNET News.com Staff
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, in defending his company's privacy policies at a symposium Thursday, said the detail on the new map-linked satellite imagery is deliberately limited. "We cannot see your swing set, and we're not trying to," he said, adding that Google has complied with government agency requests to blank out areas of its satellite maps. "The value of more information so overwhelms its misuse that we've not had material problems there."
So when's Mars coming up? (Score:4, Interesting)
(http://nerv.eu.org/)
Re:So when's Mars coming up? (Score:4, Funny)
(http://www.spacejock.com.au/)
Mars is right here (Score:5, Informative)
Try this-- it's open source, Linux and windows compatible, does need Java Web Start
Mars MOLA Viewer [antlersoft.com]something is missing (Score:4, Funny)
(http://circletimessquare.com/)
haha (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.cad.cx/ | Last Journal: Saturday October 27, @09:56AM)
Lunokhod Soviet moon robots? (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://www.aoakley.com/)
There's always next year... (Score:4, Informative)
(http://jonex.info/)
Re:Lunokhod Soviet moon robots? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm usually the first to accuse Americans of not caring about the world outside the US borders, but since they are commemorating the first man on the moon, it stands to reason that they only mark the manned moon missions.
Clickable image map of lunar landing sites (Score:5, Informative)
(http://jrw.sphinx.org/)
Here is a GPL PowerMap. (Score:5, Interesting)
One of our members has created this:
http://hobbiton.thisside.net/advmap_moon.html [thisside.net]
Its a take off of google maps, but extends some some functionality into it. It looks really nice. Enjoy!
Stop by #space sometime for a visit.
Re:Google Moon CONTEST ! Find the face (Score:4, Funny)
Enough of the conspiracy shit (Score:5, Insightful)
If you honestly think the moon landings were faked, you are mentally handicapped.
What? No Wallace and Grommit landing site? (Score:4, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/)
It's too bad that they don't identify all the other historically significant moon landing and lunar event sites -- Wallace and Grommit's landing site from "Grand Day Out" (1991), the big splat from "A Trip To The Moon" (1902), the nuclear explosions opposite Moonbase Alpha (September 13, 1999). Now that I think about it, it's probably only a matter of days before someone makes this as a Google Moon Hack.
-Mark
No Starbucks nearby? (Score:5, Funny)
And I thought they were everywhere.
Chip H.
So Close and yet so far. (Score:4, Interesting)
(Last Journal: Thursday December 08 2005, @11:00PM)
Personally, I name all of my software projects after features named during the Apollo landing missions. For a second there, I thought I might be able to provide a url in the javadocs to a map of the actual landmark for the team. While not very useful, it certainly would have been educational.
My God (Score:3, Funny)
Googling the moon is fine (Score:4, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Monday October 04 2004, @03:55PM)
Fourmilab has been doing this for years (Score:4, Informative)
(http://www.telegraphics.com.au/ | Last Journal: Tuesday November 13, @06:38AM)
One error (Score:3, Interesting)
NASA is part of the US Federal Government, which does not hold copyrights -- its works are in the public domain.
The correct tag would have been "©2005 Google - Imagery courtesy of NASA" or somesuch, but NASA can't hold a copyright.
Other than that, interesting imagery with a good Easter egg.