Entire Moon Added To Google Earth 109
CNETNate writes "Complete with Street View-like panoramas, 3D models of spacecraft now left abandoned on the moon's surface, and guided tours from the voices of Apollo astronauts, Google's recent update to Google Earth marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with an enormous update. It's a collaboration with NASA and other agencies, and follows the launch of Google Earth 5.0 which, amongst other things, added the ability to explore our planet's oceans. There are a number of original creations — such as the 3D mock-up of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and its astronauts — and you can download the new version from Google now."
Better or worse than NASA World Wind? (Score:5, Interesting)
NASA World Wind and its add-ons tend to use a single data set for each layer rather than a pastiche of the highest resolution imagery available like Google Earth's, so when I compared it to Mars in 5.0, it had a more cohesive view with a more navigable user interface, with no load time since you can download the entire cache as an add-on [worldwindcentral.com].
Re:Too lazy to check myself. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's neat that Google does interesting things like this, but it blows my mind how a company that plays so much can survive.
It could also be why they survive so well. If it's okay to play a little like that, and you *gasp* enjoy what you do at work...
Re:So Fake (Score:2, Interesting)
> There is no dark side of the moon really
Very true, like any other planet, there is sunlight on half of the surface of the moon at all times unless the Earth hides part of that sunlight ( moon eclipse ).
When we only see half of the moon in the sky, it means that half of what we call "the dark side of the moon" is actually under sunlight.
When we can't see the moon, it means that 100% of "the dark side of the moon" is actually under sunlight. Only at full moon is it actually completely dark on the "the dark side of the moon".
We always see the same face of the moon because:
its rotation period around the Earth = its rotation period on itself
I have always wondered what were the odds of such an equality in the 2 periods. I do not know, maybe this could be due to the moon actually be fragments of planet Earth as it is generally accepted now. But then again, doesn't this suggest intelligent planning rather than a random cataclysm ?
We cal "the dark side of the moon" the face that we never see...