Google introduced Mars map service

After introducing two online mapping services, Google Earth and Google Moon, Google on March 14 has launched a new mapping tool, Google Mars. This tool will allow users to interact and observe the Martian surface with just one click.

Mars maps were made by Google from photographs that NASA's Mars Odyssey and Global Surveyor spacecraft were able to capture.

The Google Mars tool does not offer migration instructions, but users can explore the planet in three different ways: Mars altitude map with color coding; tangible image maps introduce the surface of this planet with black and white photos; Infrared map shows temperature map with cold areas with darker colors and brighter areas.

Users can also zoom in on any of these three maps to see the geographic features of the area such as mountains, canyons, sand dunes and craters. These maps also pre-marked locations where unmanned probes landed on Mars.

Phil Christenssen, an planetary geologist at Arizona State University, who controls infrared cameras on the Mars Odyssey, said maps in Google Mars even include locations where two Spirit robots and NASA's Opportunity has been exploring on opposite sides of the red planet since 2004. Arizona State University is the one that has partnered with Google to create these maps.

Although there have been countless photos of Mars released on the Internet, most of them are via NASA's Mars website, but Google Mars developers say this is the first time the public can explore on their own Mars.

" Our intention is to make people look at Mars and not think it's a mysterious place for aliens, " said Christensen. He said the Mars maps may be updated in a few weeks.

Last week, the Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft successfully flew into orbit around Mars, connecting two Mars Odyssey ships and the Mars Global Surveyor. Chirstensen said that because the Reconnaissance Orbiter is the most powerful Mars probe ever, scientists can even integrate the data it collects into Google Mars.

In the middle of last year, Google launched Google Earth, a three-dimensional satellite map service that allows web surfers to explore anywhere on the earth. Subsequently, the company launched Google Moon, with landing locations of all six Apollo ships before.

The Mars map service was announced by Google exactly on the 151st anniversary of astronomer Percival Lowell, who spent more than twenty years studying the Red Planet. Chikai Ohazama, a member of the Google Earth development team, wrote on Google's website: " We hope you enjoy the trip to Mars ."