Google Moon and the Copernicus Initiative

Just chanced upon a blog post about Google Moon. Google Moon is a Google Map version of the moon and shows imagery on the Moon's surface. It was created in honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969. It uses NASA imagery and so the zoom level is limited (By the way, try zooming in too close and see what happens :) ).

Also, in 2069, Google will fully integrate Google Local search capabilities into Google Moon and will open a research and technology center on the Moon! This project is called the Copernicus Initiative (also called GCHEESE, acronym for "Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering"). A very ambitious project indeed.

Also, note the last paragraph on the Lunar Jobs page :).

Applicants must be at least 18 years of age by April 1, 2007 and have proof of earth residency. Google is an equal opportunity employer.

Visit the Google Moon website: http://moon.google.com/.