[meteorite-list] NASA and Google to Bring Space Exploration Down to Earth

[Ron Baalke]

Dec. 18, 2006

Michael Mewhinney 
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 
650-604-3937

Jon Murchinson
Google Inc., Mountain View, Calif.
650-253-4437 

RELEASE: 06-371

NASA AND GOOGLE TO BRING SPACE EXPLORATION DOWN TO EARTH

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA Ames Research Center and Google have 
signed a Space Act Agreement that formally establishes a relationship 
to work together on a variety of challenging technical problems 
ranging from large-scale data management and massively distributed 
computing, to human-computer interfaces.

As the first in a series of joint collaborations, Google and Ames will 
focus on making the most useful of NASA's information available on 
the Internet. Real-time weather visualization and forecasting, 
high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars, real-time tracking of 
the International Space Station and the space shuttle will be 
explored in the future. 

"This agreement between NASA and Google will soon allow every American 
to experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or 
through the canyons of Mars," said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin 
at Headquarters in Washington. "This innovative combination of 
information technology and space science will make NASA's space 
exploration work accessible to everyone," added Griffin. 

"Partnering with NASA made perfect sense for Google, as it has a 
wealth of technical expertise and data that will be of great use to 
Google as we look to tackle many computing issues on behalf of our 
users," said Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google. "We're 
pleased to move forward to collaborate on a variety of technical 
challenges through the signing of the Space Act Agreement." 

Recently, teams from NASA and Google met to discuss the many 
challenging computer science problems facing both organizations and 
possible joint collaborations that could help address them.

NASA and Google intend to collaborate in a variety of areas, including 
incorporating agency data sets in Google Earth, focusing on user 
studies and cognitive modeling for human computer interaction, and 
science data search utilizing a variety of Google features and 
products.

"Our collaboration with Google will demonstrate that the private and 
public sectors can accomplish great things together," said S. Pete 
Worden, Ames center director. "I want NASA Ames to establish 
partnerships with the private sector that will encourage innovation, 
while advancing the Vision for Space Exploration and commercial 
interests," Worden added.

"NASA has collected and processed more information about our planet 
and universe than any other entity in the history of humanity," said 
Chris C. Kemp, director of strategic business development at Ames. 
"Even though this information was collected for the benefit of 
everyone, and much is in the public domain, the vast majority of this 
information is scattered and difficult for non-experts to access and 
to understand. 

"We've worked hard over the past year to implement an agreement that 
enables NASA and Google to work closely together on a wide range of 
innovative collaborations," said Kemp. "We are bringing together some 
of the best research scientists and engineers to form teams to make 
more of NASA's vast information accessible."

NASA and Google also are finalizing details for additional 
collaborations that include joint research, products, facilities, 
education and missions. 

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people 
around the world with information every day. Google is headquartered 
close to Ames in Silicon Valley with offices through the Americas, 
Europe and Asia. 

For more information about Google, please visit:

http://www.google.com  

For information about NASA and agency programs, please visit:

http://www.nasa.gov 

-end-