Google and NASA Sitting in a Tree…

Google announced Wednesday that it will build a research center at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California and collaborate with the agency. While on the outside it’s a “memorandum of understanding” and NASA officials touting the agencies need for more tools to manage its data, from a geospatial perspective, the value may lie in data, as well as technology. Says an article from the Mercury News, “Google will also gain access to NASA’s space data and imagery. Google already uses satellite imagery in its Google Maps service and for its Google Earth software. Google could enhance the imagery with data about temperatures or crop patterns, said Peter Norvig, director of search quality at Google.” I thought most of that data was in the public domain?

Update 9/30: Some are accusing Google of trying to avoid taxes by building on federal land.