Google Space Telescope venture
p2pnet.net News:- Google has teamed up with scientists to build a, “huge sky-scanning telescope, in hopes of helping the public access digital footage of asteroids, supernovas and distant galaxies,” says Associated Press.
Cynics would probably say the plan is part of a self-serving push to help Google advertisers gain even more access our wallets, helped along by a large National Science Foundation grant.
Google’s “technical expertise and vast data processing capacity will be an invaluable help, even for a project that has access to some of the country’s leading research institutions,” the story has unnamed “Officials” saying.
The goal of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), sited in Chile, is to, “continuously scan space, taking a series of 15-second exposures that allow it to cover the sky every three nights”.
Google spokesman Jon Murchinson said, “I don’t think we entered into this partnership … with an eye on how do we monetize our participation,” but Stephen Maran, spokesman for the American Astronomical Society, doesn’t seem to be convinced.
“Maybe they’ll be selling ads next to the Orion Nebula or something,” he’s quoted as saying.
Other (or the same) “Officials” say there’s, “no clear revenue stream for Google in the project, and said the company also isn’t putting up money to help build the telescope itself”.
AP also quotes Google spokesman Jon Murchinson as saying, “I don’t think we entered into this partnership … with an eye on how do we monetize our participation.”
Of course not! Perish the very thought!
The project has attracted at least US$25 million in private donations and a four-year, $12 million grant from the National Science Foundation, says the story, adding:
“Some of the 20 project partners also have supplied money, including about $1 million each from a half-dozen universities.”
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Also See:
Associated Press – Google to build telescope to get real-time space images, January 6, 2006
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January 8th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
whoever wrote this… You’re an idiot.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:38 am
.