Google adds Moon to online Earth map service

SAN FRANCISCO, US: On the 40th anniversary of the first human footsteps on the moon, Google announced that it has added virtual lunar exploration to its free online Earth map and imagery service.

The moon joins Earth, Mars, and Sky in an options list in an upper tool bar on the main Web page at earth.google.com. Aspiring lunar explorers will need Google Earth 5.0 software, which can be downloaded free.

Google Earth product manager Michael Weiss-Malik said that "Forty years ago, two human beings walked on the moon. It's now possible for anyone to follow in their footsteps. We're giving hundreds of millions of people around the world unprecedented access to an interactive 3D presentation of the Apollo missions."

Moon in Google Earth meshes "Street View" style panoramic photographs and NASA video taken on the surface of the moon to create a virtual moonscape.

Moon incorporates images taken during Apollo missions and pictures from satellites. Along with tours of the moon's surface, Google Earth's new feature shows "human artifacts" left there by space missions.

(Agence France-Presse)