Hey, Google! You’ve Got Eight Planets To Go…

Posted by Mike Curtin on February 13th 2007 to Google Earth

Er, make that seven (sorry Pluto). I’ve been wondering lately if/when Google would launch a “Google Mars” similar to Google Earth. Why can’t they take all of that Mars Orbiter and Mars Pathfinder imagery and wrap it around another 3D rotating sphere? I did find a Google Mars and Google Moon based on the 2D Google Maps system - a nice start. But imagine following the path of the orbiter around the red planet, seeing the whole thing from (electronic) bird’s-eye view? Imagine flying down to ground level and tracing the route of the pathfinder. Imagine students looking for water on Mars…

While I’m dreaming, why doesn’t Google turn its gaze outward to the stars? A search engine for stars which can fly you through space to that special star in the Pleiades at the click of a mouse. Google Galaxy, anyone?

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Historical Maps in Google Earth

Posted by Mike Curtin on December 22nd 2006 to Globalization, Google Earth

This month’s PC Magazine includes a blurb about the new collection of historical map overlays in Google Earth. I think that once you start overlaying data onto that spinning globe, Google Earth goes from being a really neat gadget to a seriuos tool for exploring global phenomena and relationships. Using the overlay and some placemarkers, I did a quick study of how the shape of southern Manhattan has changed over the last 150 years:

Things will really get interesting when kids and teachers start playing with the “Lewis and Clark 1814″ and “Middle East 1861″ maps. You can learn more at Google Earth Geography Awareness Week.

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