Helping you find your way through the final frontier

Though our rocket program to help commuters to our Moon office is still a long way off, we’ve always jumped at the chance to bring the wonders of outer space a little closer to Earth. On Saturday, our Hubble telescope doodle celebrated 20 years of one of the most productive and celebrated science instruments since Galileo first made a telescopic survey of the heavens 400 years ago.

Hubble's razor-sharp vision has revealed previously hidden aspects of the cosmos with unparalleled intimacy and clarity, and you can see some of the best examples for yourself on our Hubble 20th birthday page. You can also download our new Hubble tour to explore further in Google Earth. And Google Sky Map now includes a Hubble Gallery for you to see Hubble discoveries by pointing your phone to the night sky.



So far, we’ve also announced a Moon office, a Moon race, an expedition to Mars, Sky in Google Earth (also available as a handy, hand-held guide), Moon in Google Earth, Mars in Google Earth, NASA images in Google Earth and more than a few extra-orbital doodles. Occasionally somebody will ask us, “Just what does space have to do with the Internet?” Plenty, if you ask Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf. But space, like the Internet, is also a fascinating place to spend time, especially for engineers, technologists and explorers. So we usually answer, “Well, who hasn’t thought about blasting off and seeing the stars up close?”

It’s incredibly important to encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers to (quite literally) reach for the stars. We’ve made these tools available to help these explorers and astronauts-in-training get their bearings, as well as to showcase the incredible achievements we’ve already seen from generations of brave, dedicated people working to challenge the limits of human capability and knowledge. And, depending on who you ask, space might be closer than you think. In the meantime, for everybody who’s taken a wistful look at the night sky — we’re looking up with you.

Posted by Anita Barci, Product Marketing Manager, Geo team