Google Earth 5.0 was only released last month, but this past Friday a big Mars update resulted in several new features for those exploring the red planet.
Live from Mars: the THEMIS camera team from Arizona State University has made it possible to see a continuous near real-time stream of high resolution satellite imagery. Available just hours after NASA receives the images, the Mars imagery is supplemented by live satellite orbital tracks and future imagery plans for the HiRISE camera.
Historical Maps: this is probably my favorite new Mars feature. Called the Historical Globes layer to be precise, this feature lets you see antique maps of Mars as virtual spinning globes.
Guided Tours: this is a great educational feature for public school science programs in my opinion. Go to the Mars Gallery layer, and receive a guided tour of the planet by your choice of Bill Nye the Science Guy or Ira Flatow, host of Public Radio’s Science Friday.
Don’t have Google Earth 5.0 yet? You can download it here.
