NASA has announced that it is adding new higher-resolution lunar imagery and maps that include NASA multimedia content on to the Google Moon web site.The updates include new content from the Apollo space missions, including links to audio clips and photographs, dozens of embedded panoramic images and descriptions of the astronauts' activities during their space ventures.
The space agency has also added detailed charts of various regions of the moon suitable for use by anyone simulating a lunar mission.
Chris Kemp, director of strategic business development at NASA's Ames Research Centre, commented: "NASA's objective is for Google Moon to become a more accurate and useful lunar mapping platform that will be a foundation for future web-based moon applications, much like the many applications that have been built on top of Google Maps."
These additions will make it easier for scientists across the world to make lunar data more accessible, he added.
The new site is designed to be user-friendly and to encourage the exchange of ideas and information between scientists and amateur astronomers.
NASA's additions to the Google Moon site closely follows Google's recent announcement of a robotic race to the Moon, the winner of which will receive a $30 million prize.
The search engine, in collaboration with the X Prize Foundation, is encouraging companies from across the globe to compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the lunar surface.
