(Redirected from Google Sky)

First, let's cover the basics: LiquidSky promises to let anyone play any PC game on Mac, Windows, Android or Linux devices via the magic of cloud streaming. Big news and even bigger upgrades arrive with LiquidSky Windows Client Patch v0.2.12! Google Earth for mobile enables you to explore the globe with a swipe of your finger. Fly through 3D cities like London, Tokyo and Rome. Dive in to view the world at street level with integrated. As the open source movement reaches the two-decade milestone, thoughts turn to the movement's achievements and future goals.

Google Earth
Original author(s)	Google
Developer(s)	Google
Initial release	June 11, 2001; 18 years ago
Stable release	Windows, macOS, Linux 7.3.2.5776 (December 13, 2018; 8 months ago^[1])[±] Google Chrome 9.2.92.0 ^[2][±] Android 9.2.53.5 (August 29, 2019; 6 days ago^[3])[±] iOS 9.2.56 (August 21, 2019; 14 days ago^[4])[±]
Preview release	Windows, macOS, Linux 7.3.2 (June 20, 2018; 14 months ago^[5])[±]
Written in	C++
Operating system	Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox One, Android, iOS
Size	Windows: 12.5 MB macOS: 35 MB Linux: 24 MB Android: 11.62 MB iOS: 180.5 MB
Available in	Various languages
Type	Virtual globe
License	Freeware
Website	earth.google.com

Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles. Users can explore the globe by entering addresses and coordinates, or by using a keyboard or mouse. The program can also be downloaded on a smartphone or tablet, using a touch screen or stylus to navigate. Users may use the program to add their own data using Keyhole Markup Language and upload them through various sources, such as forums or blogs. Google Earth is able to show various kinds of images overlaid on the surface of the earth and is also a Web Map Service client.

In addition to Earth navigation, Google Earth provides a series of other tools through the desktop application. Additional globes for the Moon and Mars are available, as well as a tool for viewing the night sky. A flight simulator game is also included. Other features allow users to view photos from various places uploaded to Panoramio, information provided by Wikipedia on some locations, and Street View imagery. The web-based version of Google Earth also includes Voyager, a feature that periodically adds in-program tours, often presented by scientists and documentarians.

Google Earth has been viewed by some as a threat to privacy and national security, leading to the program being banned in multiple countries. Some countries have requested that certain areas be obscured in Google's satellite images, usually areas containing military facilities.

2Imagery
3Outer space
4Other features
5Versions
8Controversy and criticism

History

The core technology behind Google Earth was originally developed at Intrinsic Graphics in the late 1990s. At the time, the company was developing 3D gaming software libraries.^[6] As a demo of their 3D software, they created a spinning globe that could be zoomed into, similar to the Powers of Ten film.^[6] The demo was popular, but the board of Intrinsic wanted to remain focused on gaming, so in 1999, they created Keyhole, Inc., headed by John Hanke.^[6] Keyhole then developed a way to stream large databases of mapping data over the internet to client software, a key part of the technology,^[7] and acquired patchworks of mapping data from governments and other sources.^[6] The product, called 'Keyhole EarthViewer', was sold on CDs for use in fields such as real estate, urban planning, defense, and intelligence; users paid a yearly fee for the service.^[7] Despite making a number of capital deals with Nvidia and Sony,^[7] the small company was struggling to make payroll, and employees were leaving.^[6]

Fortunes for the company changed in early 2003 when CNN received a discount for the software in exchange for placing the Keyhole logo on-air whenever the map was used.^[7]^[6] Keyhole did not expect it would amount to more than brief 5 or 10 second prerecorded animation clips, but it was used extensively by Miles O'Brien live during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, allowing CNN and millions of viewers to follow the progress of the war in a way that had never been seen before.^[7]^[6] Public interest in the software exploded and Keyhole servers were not able to keep up with demand.^[7]^[6] Keyhole was soon contacted by the Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel,^[8] and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,^[9] for use with defense mapping databases, which gave Keyhole a much-needed cash infusion.^[6] Intrinsic Graphics was sold in 2003 to Vicarious Visions after its gaming libraries did not sell well, and its core group of engineers and management transitioned to Keyhole with Hanke remaining at the head.^[6]

At the time, Google was finding that over 25% of its searches were of a geospatial character, including searches for maps and directions.^[6] In October 2004, Google acquired Keyhole as part of a strategy to better serve its users.^[10]

Imagery

Google Earth's imagery is displayed on a digital globe, which displays the planet's surface using a single composited image from a far distance. After zooming in far enough, the imagery transitions into different imagery of the same area with finer detail, which varies in date and time from one area to the next. The imagery is retrieved from satellites or aircraft.^[11] Before the launch of NASA and the USGS'sLandsat 8 satellite, Google relied partially on imagery from Landsat 7, which suffered from a hardware malfunction that left diagonal gaps in images.^[12] In 2013, Google used datamining to remedy the issue, providing what was described as a successor to the Blue Marble image of Earth, with a single large image of the entire planet. This was achieved by combining multiple sets of imagery taken from Landsat 7 to eliminate clouds and diagonal gaps, creating a single 'mosaic' image.^[13] Google now uses Landsat 8 to provide imagery in a higher quality and with greater frequency.^[14] Imagery is hosted on Google's servers, which are contacted by the application when opened, requiring an Internet connection.

Imagery resolution ranges from 15 meters of resolution to 15 centimeters. For much of the Earth, Google Earth uses digital elevation model data collected by NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.^[15] This creates the impression of three-dimensional terrain, even where the imagery is only two-dimensional.

Every image created from Google Earth using satellite data provided by Google Earth is a copyrighted map. Any derivative from Google Earth is made from copyrighted data which, under United States Copyright Law, may not be used except under the licenses Google provides. Google allows non-commercial personal use of the images (e.g. on a personal website or blog)

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