Google lands on Mars

Garett Rogers
ZDNet
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Tonight I noticed that mars.google.com now has a CNAME record that points to www.google.com. This usually means that something is about to happen with that subdomain — with the exception of calendar.google.com of course.
So I started digging and you will never guess what I found — a Google Maps type application that lets you view Mars. This service is called "Google Mars".
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See Also:
NASA robotic spacecraft enters orbit around Mars
Probe to give fresh insights into Mars
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Using this service, you can browse the martian landscape the same way as using Google Maps. Google has included three different types of data in Google Mars.
Elevation - A shaded relief map, generated with data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.
Visible - A mosaic of images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. MOC is like the digital camera you have at home.
Infrared - A mosaic of infrared images taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
When you first load the service, you will see a stunning map of Mars that by default shows you elevation. You can switch between the three views by clicking the buttons in the top right corner.
Mar 12, 2006