Land on the Moon in Google Earth

By Nancy Atkinson - July 20, 2009 at 3:57 PM UTC | Missions

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Google has launched a new feature: the

Moon in Google Earth.

You can now use Google Earth to explore, fly around and search the Moon. Google was able to get several astronauts to participate in this new feature, and you can get tours of landing sites, narrated by Apollo astronauts, view 3D models of landed spacecraft, zoom into 360-degree photos to see astronauts' footprints and watch rare TV footage of the Apollo missions. The hi-resolution views of the Moon were developed in collaboration with NASA Ames Research and JAXA. It's loads of fun and provides an historic perspective as well as a look to the future of lunar exploration. If you already have Google Earth 5.0 on your computer, just click on the tab on the top toolbar that has a picture of Saturn, and click on Moon. If you click on the Apollo 11 flag, you can zoom in on that location and take a tour of the first landing site on the Moon! What a great way celebrate the 40th anniversary. Enjoy!

Click here to go the the Moon in Google Earth.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com