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

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:21:50 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200612181621.IAA18948_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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-
Received on Mon 18 Dec 2006 11:21:50 AM PST