If the 40th anniversary of the moon landing by NASA’s Apollo 11 crew has you jonesing for more information about our lunar neighbor, Google Inc. today came out with a new Google Earth feature that promises to provide just that.
Google took the wrappers off Moon in Google Earth, which features panoramic pictures of the lunar surface, historic videos, renderings of NASA’s landing modules and scads of articles about Earth’s orbiter. Its release was handily timed to coincide with the anniversary of the first moon landing by humans on July 20, 1969.
“This tool will make it easier for millions of people to learn about space, our moon and some of the most significant and dazzling discoveries humanity has accomplished together,” wrote Anousheh Ansari, the first female space tourist, in a blog post on Google’s site.
“Moon in Google Earth enables you to explore lunar imagery, as well as informational content about the Apollo landing sites, panoramic images shot by the Apollo astronauts, narrated tours and much more. I believe that this educational tool is a critical step into the future, a way to both develop the dreams of young people globally, and inspire new audacious goals,” Ansari added.
Moon in Google Earth is the latest version of Google Earth, following earlier versions that added updates on Earth’s oceans, the constellations and Mars imagery.
