May 20, 2010
Google Moon
“On February 5, 1971, the crew of Apollo 14 touched down on the lunar surface in the Fra Mauro formation near Cone Crater. It was the second attempt to land at this site. Originally, Apollo 13 had been slated to land at Fra Mauro and Apollo 14 was to explore a site near Littrow Crater. The Apollo 13 accident had altered these plans…”
After the thrilling success of Google Earth, Google launched a brand new service: Google Moon. It consists of two components that work more or less the same as Google Maps and Google Earth, and provides the viewer with (luna)graphical information. The site offers diverse material to learn more about the moon’s landscape as well as constructions and activities performed by mankind. One can find and discover information such as tours of lunar landing sites narrated by Apollo astronauts, 3D models of rovers and landers, 360-degree photo panoramas, and rare TV footage of the Apollo missions. These new features are available in Google Earth 5.0.
We are happy to announce that Volume #25 will be dedicated to the challenges of living on the moon. The moon is a liminal condition, an ultimate test to human inventiveness and feedback mechanism on our ‘taken for granted’ assumptions down here. The Volume issue is being developed in close collaboration with Alicia Framis’ Moon Life project and the European Space Agency (ESA) in Noordwijk. Last month, the Moon Academy workshops started, gathering some 50 students from different backgrounds. The end results will be displayed in Shanghai, and also as a special companion to Volume magazine later this year. Click here to browse through the Moon Life handbook, which is part of the Moon Academy.