back to article Google Earthlings fly to Mars

Google earlier this week annnounced the release of Google Earth 5 - now with added bells and whistles including a detailed look at Mars: Mars as seen on Google Earth Google has availed itself of NASA mapping and imagery to create what the latter calls a "rich, immersive 3D view" of the Red Planet, packed with detail such as …

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  1. Adam Foxton
    Thumb Up

    Finally, the guys at Virgle know where they're going!

    http://www.google.com/virgle/

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Oceans - How

    So how do you get it to dive under the oceans, I can see the tick box but still stop at the surface when lowering the "Eye Alt"

  3. MikeC
    Alien

    I wonder...

    I wonder how happy the martians will be when Google lands a couple of black Opels with monstrous cameras on the top???

  4. Wize

    Re: I wonder...

    "I wonder how happy the martians will be when Google lands a couple of black Opels with monstrous cameras on the top???"

    They had better not walk in front of them to try and greet them, especially if the Martians have four legs...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No love for Google Flight Simulator?

    Okay, it's pretty crude (but what Gware isn't in its first iteration?) but last night I spent three hours piloting an F-16 over Olympus Mons and buzzing the Mars Exploration Rovers before doing a perfect takeoff at McCarran Airport, a few loop-the-loops over the Las Vegas Strip and a low-level strafing run over the Hoover Dam before flying up-country to make a few passes over San Francisco and perform a re-enactment of the final scenes of The Rock (including a reasonably illegal fly-under of the Golden Gate Bridge), then capped it all with a blast from Heathrow, a quick spin over London and a crash-landing in my own front garden. Maybe all those guys sacked from MS Flight Simulator can find a new home?

    All the new stuff is hugely impressive, and subjectively the whole app feels a good deal snappier on my Mac.

    The downside, however, is the persistent Google Update application that insists on installing and running before you can install Earth, and apparently manages all other Google Apps the same way, although deleting it from my Login Items doesn't seem to have caused any ructions.

  6. Hollerith

    Our first view of Martians

    ...caught by a Opel-based spycam taking a wee.

  7. Funkster
    Unhappy

    Can't download it from behind an authenticated proxy...

    I'm quite keen to try the new GE, but for some unexplained reason you can now only get it via their updater tool, which doesn't support authenticated proxies.

    WTF? I can only imagine the number of people in offices or universities currently swearing at Google and going and downloading the Microsoft jobbie instead.

    Bunch of idiots.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    But can we see ...

    ... amanfromMars's house?

  9. Tom Cooke

    T'interweb

    So now we have interplanetary IP protocols *and* Google Mars, and a successful first test of hardware for Constellation (Ares/Orion). Also I finished my Airfix Space Shuttle :-) :-)

    Welcome to the 21st Century, I'm loving it.

  10. Brendon Lucas

    The Sea is rising

    after upgrading to google earth 5, it would appear the isles of Scilly are beneath the sea, lol

  11. Simon Harris
    Happy

    Re: I wonder...

    "I wonder how happy the martians will be when Google lands a couple of black Opels with monstrous cameras on the top???"

    The ones called Spirit and Opportunity ?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Wait a minute -

    Where's Cade Metz, foaming at the mouth about the privacy implications for Martians?

  13. Moss Icely Spaceport
    Thumb Up

    I'll never get to Mars...

    ...but this is the next best thing!!!

    Yay!

  14. Sillyfellow
    Coat

    @ amanfrommars's house?

    of course you can't see amanfrommars's house...

    it's been airbrushed/edited out along with the cities, spaceports and any other signs of civilization.

  15. mittfh

    What next?

    Phobos & Deimos?

    Venus? (Although you wouldn't want to settle there - a surface pressure of 92atm, temperature of 460°C, 95% CO2 atmosphere and sulphur dioxide clouds)

    Mercury?

  16. Jeremy
    Happy

    Re: Flightsim

    Would be nice if the altimeter adjusted itself for a smaller planet though, don't ya think? Gotta love trying to work out when you're gonna hit the deck when the altimeter already reads -10K feet...

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Finally!

    I can now find that plot of land on Mars that I brought for £100...

  18. M Gale
    Coat

    So we've got the flight sim for earth, what's for mars?

    Cyberdemons and exploding barrels?

    ...I'll get me coat.

  19. John Sawyer

    Re: What next?

    "Phobos & Deimos?...Venus?...Mercury?"

    In time, probably. Followed by a complete universe flythrough capability (piloting the craft of your choice), using more NASA, etc. data, along with depiction of star positions, etc. in the sky from any spot in the universe.

  20. Tee
    Alert

    Suspeciouse Shadows......

    Call me paranoid, but has anyone noticed that the shadows aren't all falling true to where the sun should be.....? Google you're a big fat lair just like buzz....

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