Entire Moon Added To Google Earth

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."

Comments

yahoo...

[kevvraja]

yahoo....

So Fake

[Stu1706]

This is so fake. We did not go to the moon. I looked all over and could not find the dark side either. And where is all the cheese?

Re:So Fake

[iknowcss]

The likelihood of the moon forming with the same rotational period as its revolution period is very slim. The moon had a much shorter rotational period originally, but tidal forces dragged at it and slowed it down. Now the two are in lock-step. I remember hearing that eventually the earth will do the same thing, so anyone standing on the moon would always see the same side of the earth.

Re:So Fake

[interkin3tic]

We didn't go to the moon? Alright smart guy, how do you think google got the street view team driving around the moon then?!?

Re:So Fake

[DavidTC]

No, the earth will lock to the sun first, and one side of the planet would boil.

...except it won't, because the sun will supernova first, but pretending it didn't, the earth would stop spinning in relation to the sun.

After that, the moon's orbit would continue to slow down until it, indeed, could only see one side of the earth. I.e., what you described, except it's not the earth stopping turning in relation to the moon, it's that the moon stopping moving around it.

...except, of course, it would have already crashed into the earth at that point, having no orbital velocity. You can't just sit there in orbit not moving.

But pretending that all this would happen before the sun went supernova, and pretending that the moon could hover in orbit without any velocity, yeah, the moon will eventually see only one side of the earth. ;)

Moon "added to Earth"?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

So sweet. Finally together, after billions of years apart!

Re:Moon "added to Earth"?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

I doubt. The moon is indeed slowly moving away, but this is due to energy and angular momentum transfers between Earth and Moon. Moon can't suddenly get twice the kinetic energy it has now and fly away. It has been calculated that the Moon's orbital period would stabilize at approximately 47 days, after enough energy will have been transfered that the rotation of Earth will match the movement of the Moon, thereby effectively stopping all the tidal interactions. I said "would stabilize" because this is supposed to happen well after Sun's red giant phase which has the potential to throw these calculations off a bit (i.e., Moon is likely to experience some drag at that time). (I don't know whether this factor has been included into the calculations, Wikipedia references dead tree materials I don't have handy, but these numbers seem trustworthy.)

And like Google Earth...

[Anonymous Coward]

And just as in Google Earth, if you go to the right places you'll find surprises. For example, the two space hookers standing in the Copernicus crater.

Re:Too lazy to check myself.

[doti]

Just checked it now, and it was removed.
Now that there's nothing to spoil: when you zoomed close enough, it showed the moon surface made of cheese.

Better or worse than NASA World Wind?

[Kligat]

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.

Re:Too lazy to check myself.

[lorenlal]

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:Too lazy to check myself.

[Thomas M Hughes]

It's neat that Google does interesting things like this, but it blows my mind how a company that plays so much can survive.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of the Internet has some form of Google advertising on it somewhere. So, it's not an exaggeration to say "Time you spend on the Internet, in almost any form generates profit for Google." Thus, it's in their interest to encourage you, in a wide variety of ways, to spend time on the Internet.

So, Google Earth allows you to play with various maps. That may cause you to become interested in a specific location, which causes you to use Google Search (+profit) to find a website (+profit) that discusses the location that you were interested in. Interested in the moon? Again, Google Earth to the Apollo Lander, Google Search Apollo Program (+profit), find various websites about the Apollo Program. Some, if not most, of these sites will have adsense (+profit).

I suppose what may be more surprising is that this business plan is actually wildly profitable, instead of just speculative.

Re:Too lazy to check myself.

[camperdave]

I think it's kind of sad that they removed the cheese, and the "swim across the Atlantic" gags from Google maps. When a company takes itself too seriously, they get stale and stuffy and set in their ways.

Sheep!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are you all such mindless sheep? We never went to the moon, period. Think for yourself for a change why don't you? The information is out there, you just need to know where to look. Start with obscure self-published books and newsletters, and work your way up to poorly designed websites with blinking text. There is an absolute wealth of pseudo-science out there people that clearly proves the moon landings were a hoax contrived by the Pentablet at their secret meeting place called "The Meadows". Turn the TV off and go learn the truth...

Re:Sheep!

[DavidTC]

We never went to the moon, period.

You know, you're actually right. We certainly didn't go to the moon. I wasn't even born in the 1960s.

People keeping saying we went to the moon....no, I really did not. I don't know what the hell you were doing, but I certainly didn't, keep me out of your moon alibi, I'm not going to pretend I was at this 'moon' you keep asserting we were at together. (If this is some legal thing, I will gladly testify in court that I was not on the moon at any specific date, because I have never been on the moon, no matter how many people assert we went there in there 1960s.)

I'm mean, it's pretty stupid, as far as lies go. NASA, which as far as I can tell are the only people who've even been up there, keeps records of everyone who's gone up. Am I on that list? Um, no, I am not. How did I get to the moon if I didn't take NASA, huh? Walk?

You don't know Dick

[whowantscream]

I bet you Dick Cheney's moon base is blurred out...

A Bit Buggy

[DynaSoar]

It's got a few problems still.
I set my home location.
I set a location on the moon -- Tranquility Base.
I set it to give me directions.
Rather than telling me to go to Cape Canaveral and turn up or some such, it placed Tranquility Base somewhere in Africa.

The "Moon": A Ridiculous Liberal Myth

[goldspider]

It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)

Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors .. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt .45 and a .38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.

Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!

Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our government when the sun goes down.

Re:Too lazy to check myself.

[Convector]

Enjoying your job is the same as stealing from the company.

Re:Too lazy to check myself.

[Dragoness Eclectic]

Who modded a Dilbert quote "Insightful"? Go give yourself 50 lashes with a wet noodle if you did.