Google Moon Debuts

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.'"

Comments

Conspiracy!

[Slartibartfast]

If you zoom in to maximum resolution, you'll find "proof" we never landed there. ;-)

Re:Conspiracy!

[The Other White Boy]

i hope this doesn't break this site, because it doesn't belong to me.

Exploring the Apollo Landing Sites

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!

[The Patient]

Probably the same way many of us in other countries did: an opportune moment arose (!) while we were over at our girlfriend's house and her parents were away.

Re:Conspiracy!

[uberdave]

You could also point a laser at the moon and see if you get a reflection back. A few of the Apollo missions left retroreflectors on the lunar surface.

Re:Conspiracy!

[iamlucky13]

I sure hope you can't see the rover tracks in all of them. If I remember correctly, Apollo 15 was the first mission to carry a rover. This is just proof that the moon landing was a conspiracy and the tracks must be from trucks hauling all the camera and sound gear, the "astronauts," and the fake landers to the "landing site."

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.

Awesome...

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I can find the best route to work. If they get Google Moon Ride Finder up and running I'll be all set.

HaHa

[maotx]

And who says Google doesn't have a sense of humor?

Example 1:
From their FAQ:
4. Is Google Moon a result of your Copernicus initiative?

Glad you asked, and yes, the development of our lunar hosting and research center 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

[iapetus]

And who says Google doesn't have a sense of humor?

Well, The Register says they don't have a sense of humour...

Re:HaHa

[zipzap54]

Of course Google has a sense of humor.
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..

[Paska]

Google Overlords: Earth, check. Moon, check.

I, for one, welcome our new Moon overlords.

Now we can all see the studio.

[Anonymous Coward]

Since we all know that the moon landings were faked, I'm sure we are all looking forward to seeing the studio on the lunar surface where they filmed it all.

Re:Now we can all see the studio.

[Adrilla]

If the moon landing were faked, then the studio would NOT be on THE MOON

Re:Now we can all see the studio.

[JonasH]

You'd have to appreciate the irony of it though.

<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

[Arthur B.]

I can't even see Dr. Evil giant "laser" !

You bastards, you've slashdotted GOOGLE!

[dlawson]

I can't believe you did this!

So when's Mars coming up?

[Pegasus]

Seriously, with all the imagery Nasa has, Google Mars would be nice too.

Re:So when's Mars coming up?

[Spacejock]

Absolutely... Because we're all keen to find the nearest Mars Bar.

something is missing

[circletimessquare]

i can't get driving directions to those locations

Lunokhod Soviet moon robots?

[evilandi]

I note that Google have conveniently forgotten to place the Soviet (Russian) Lunokhod moon robots on the map (at Sea of Rains and Le Monnier, Mare Serenitatis).

Re:Lunokhod Soviet moon robots?

[lxs]

Further proof that manned missions capture the public imagination far better than unmanned missions.

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.

It's True!

[Panaphonix]

Instead of putting down an American flag, they installed a big letter A! I wonder why I can't see it at night?

Clickable image map of lunar landing sites

[wherley]

Zoom on in at http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~durda/Apollo/landing_ sites.html

Goatse

[Anonymous Coward]

http://uranus.google.com/

But don't zoom in!

Here is a GPL PowerMap.

[tetrahedrassface]

We run #space on freenode.

One of our members has created this:

http://hobbiton.thisside.net/advmap_moon.html

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

[szo]

the face is on the mars...

Enough of the conspiracy shit

[Quiet_Desperation]

http://www.clavius.org/

If you honestly think the moon landings were faked, you are mentally handicapped.

Mars is right here

[mmacdona86]

Try this-- it's open source, Linux and windows compatible, does need Java Web Start

Mars MOLA Viewer

What? No Wallace and Grommit landing site?

[kriegsman]

The full-zoom view of the Moon is worth the price of admission all by itself. ("That's it Gromit....che..eeese. We'll go somewhere where there's cheese!")

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?

[chiph]

Amazingly, a local search turns up no Starbucks coffee shops in the area.
And I thought they were everywhere.

Chip H.

Re:Cool

[Alex P Keaton in da]

I got the crazy idea from Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt...
Link here.... http://news.com.com/Quote+of+the+day+Cant+see+your +swing+set/2110-1029_3-5713885.html
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."

There's always next year...

[Sebastian Jansson]

They actually mention that in their blog.

So Close and yet so far.

[955301]

I wish they would have taken this more seriously. The moon actually have a massive number of named points of interest which would be nice to be able to look up.

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.

Googling the moon is fine

[Cro Magnon]

But I absolutely refuse to Google Uranus!

Fourmilab has been doing this for years

[toby]

John Walker's wonderful Earth & Moon Viewer has been around for as long as I can remember. See this page for a catalogue of formations, landing sites and other points of interest.

Urban Legends

[freeweed]

Another urban legend re: Google earth and maps has been circulating recently. Several people have told me that the satellite imagery is intentionally old, because after 9/11 the US gov't passed a law saying no satellite photos newer than 2 years could be provided to the general public.

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.