Google Reaches Farther With Maps of Mars

First there was Google Earth, then Google Moon. Now Google Inc. has expanded its galactic reach by launching Google Mars, a Web browser-based mapping tool that gives users an interactive view of the Red Planet with the click of a mouse.

The Martian maps, at www.google.com/mars, were made from images taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor orbiters.

Users can see the planet in three formats: a color-coded elevation map, a black-and-white photographic map and an infrared temperature map.

Users can also zoom in on any of the three maps to view geographical features such as mountains, canyons, dunes and craters.