Google and NASA Team Up to Create Virtual Tour of Kennedy Space Center
Two of the most innovative technology organizations in the world have teamed up to create a truly amazing video. Google’s Street View team visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to create a virtual tour of the legendary launch site.
Through Google Maps with Street View, users can travel the same route the astronauts traveled from the Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad; stand inside the Firing Room in the Launch Control Center, the nerve center of Launch Complex 39; walk through the high bay of the Space Station Processing Facility; and visit the Space Shuttle Main Engine shop, among other locations.
Read the full article here and take the interactive tour on here.
Google’s Street View team is creating a visual database of nearly the entire planet. This was part of a special project that led them to Antarctica, the Swiss Alps and the Louvre. So how do they do it?
A crew of five Google Street View personnel spent a week collecting data and imagery at Kennedy in early 2012, while shuttles Atlantis, Endeavour and Discovery all were still at the center as workers prepared them for public display. Atlantis and Endeavour were in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the time the images were shot and are easily seen in the Google Street View tour of that facility.
The Google team used a variety of cameras and tools to acquire 360-degree views of the center's most famous and historic landmarks. Exteriors and streets were photographed using Google Street View cars, while crew members relied on a three-wheeled trike, a wheeled trolley, and a tripod for tight spaces and interiors.
Watch the video below, and take the tour for yourself here.
