MICROSOFT’S WORLDWIDE TELESCOPE TO FOCUS ON MARS, MOON

New York
Financial Chronicle

US space agency Nasa has entered into a collaboration with software giant Microsoft to develop a new technology which will make planetary images and data accessible worldwide through internet.

The joint venture will work to develop a new technology to make Nasa’s content, including high-resolution images and data from Mars and the Moon, available on WorldWide Telescope, Microsoft’s online virtual telescope.

“Making Nasa’s scientific and astronomical data more accessible to the public is a high priority for Nasa, especially given the new administration's recent emphasis on open government and transparency,” said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for Nasa’s Science Mission Directorate.

Under the agreement, Nasa’s Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California, will process and host more than 100 terabytes of data, enough to fill 20,000 DVDs.