Google and NASA Ames Research Center have signed a Space Act Agreement that establishes a relationship to work together on a variety of challenging technical problems including large-scale data management, massively distributed computing, human-computer interfaces, bio-info-nano convergence, and encouragement of the entrepreneurial space industry.

This collaboration marks another step in a partnership announced 15 months ago when Google unveiled a plan to build a 1 million-square-foot campus at the NASA center, located a few miles south of the company's Mountain View headquarters.

Under the arrangement, NASA Ames Research Center will provide Google its weather forecasting information, three-dimensional maps of the moon and Mars, and real-time tracking of the international space station and space shuttle flights so the pictures and data are available to anyone with an Internet connection.

"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.

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, so imagine having a wide selection of images from the Apollo space mission at your fingertips whenever you want it, and that's just one small example.

written by Cristian L.