Google launches new look at Mars

LOS ANGELES — First there was Google Earth, then Google Moon.

On Monday, Google Inc. expanded its galactic reach by launching Google Mars, a Web browser-based mapping tool that gives users an up-close, interactive view of the Red Planet with the click of a mouse.

The Martian maps were made from images taken by NASA's orbiting Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor.

Google Mars doesn't provide driving directions, but users can see the planet in three different formats:

• The Martian elevation map is color-coded by altitude

• The visible-imagery map shows the surface in black-and-white pictures

• The infrared map indicates temperature, with cooler areas dark and warmer areas bright.

Users can also zoom in on any of the three maps to view geographical features such as mountains, canyons, dunes and craters. The maps also pinpoint the locations of unmanned probes and rovers that have landed on Mars.

Although many Mars images are already available on the Internet, mostly through NASA's Mars-mission Web sites, the developers of Google Mars said this is the first time that members of the public can explore Mars on their own.

Phil Christensen, an Arizona State University planetary geologist who operates an infrared camera on the Mars Odyssey, said the Martian maps at http://www.google.com/mars would most likely be updated every few weeks.

Arizona State University partnered with Google to create the maps.