Monday, July 20 is the fortieth anniversary of the first manned moon landing. Google has chosen to mark the occassion by releasing a new set of maps for Google Earth that let you browse the surface of the moon.
Google Earth is free software. You’ll need the latest version to explore the moon, so if you don’t already have Google Earth 5.0, download it now. If you already have 5.0, no upgrade is required.
To access the new moon maps, go to the little planet icon drop-down in the Google Earth toolbar and select “Moon.” You’ll notice there are also selectors for Sky and Mars — these are previous enhancements to Google Earth that are also available. Users of Google Maps have also been able to explore the moon, the night sky and Mars in a web browser for some time.
Some awesome metadata comes with Google Earth’s moon maps that makes it worth the download, though. There are interactive tours of the moon’s various sights narrated by Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jack Schmitt, 360-degree photo-montages of landing sites, clips from televised footage of the various Apollo missions and overlays of the training maps used by the astronauts. The are also 3-D models of the moon’s terrain, complete with models of the landers, probes, rovers and other artifacts left by humans.
Check out this video featuring Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt that shows off some of the enhancements.
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