MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA Ames Research
Center and Google have signed a Space Act Agreement that formally
establishes a relationship to work together on a variety of challenging
technical problems ranging from large-scale data management and massively
distributed computing, to human-computer interfaces.
As the first in a series of joint collaborations, Google and Ames will
focus on making the most useful of NASA's information available on the
Internet. Real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution
3- D maps of the moon and Mars, real-time tracking of the International
Space Station and the space shuttle will be explored in the future.
"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.
"Partnering with NASA made perfect sense for Google, as it has a wealth
of technical expertise and data that will be of great use to Google as we
look to tackle many computing issues on behalf of our users," said Eric
Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google. "We're pleased to move forward
to collaborate on a variety of technical challenges through the signing of
the Space Act Agreement."
Recently, teams from NASA and Google met to discuss the many
challenging computer science problems facing both organizations and
possible joint collaborations that could help address them.
NASA and Google intend to collaborate in a variety of areas, including
incorporating agency data sets in Google Earth, focusing on user studies
and cognitive modeling for human computer interaction, and science data
search utilizing a variety of Google features and products.
"Our collaboration with Google will demonstrate that the private and
public sectors can accomplish great things together," said S. Pete Worden,
Ames center director. "I want NASA Ames to establish partnerships with the
private sector that will encourage innovation, while advancing the Vision
for Space Exploration and commercial interests," Worden added.
"NASA has collected and processed more information about our planet and
universe than any other entity in the history of humanity," said Chris C.
Kemp, director of strategic business development at Ames. "Even though this
information was collected for the benefit of everyone, and much is in the
public domain, the vast majority of this information is scattered and
difficult for non-experts to access and to understand.
"We've worked hard over the past year to implement an agreement that
enables NASA and Google to work closely together on a wide range of
innovative collaborations," said Kemp. "We are bringing together some of
the best research scientists and engineers to form teams to make more of
NASA's vast information accessible."
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. Google is headquartered close
to Ames in Silicon Valley with offices through the Americas, Europe and
Asia.
For more information about Google, please visit:
http://www.google.com
For information about NASA and agency programs, please visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
SOURCE NASA
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Related links:
http://www.nasa.gov
http://www.google.com
CONTACT:
Michael Mewhinney of NASA, Ames Research
Center, Moffett Field, Calif., +1-650-604-3937; or Jon Murchinson
of Google Inc., Mountain View, Calif., +1-650-253-4437
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