I’ll preface this by stating that Google Earth has been one of my favorite apps ever since it debuted in 2006. I don’t use it all that often, considering I don’t necessarily need to be browsing a 3D representation of the planet all that frequently, but I love it for its innovation and just plain beautiful appearance. I have spent a lot of time in the past exploring the planet with the app, and I feel that it is a great contribution to the open source community.

Somewhat recently, Google Earth was upgraded to include the “Sky” feature, a 3D mapping of the stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies of outer space. Having a quick navigable interface allowing interaction with the known universe is a great jump, in my opinion, and I personally find the option fascinating. I’ve always had an interest in space and astronomy so I’m glad that Google gave us the ability to browse it at our own leisure in a visual medium, rather than having to rely on other indirect textual resources.

Next for Google Earth will be another upgrade with a new “Ocean” feature, which will give the users the ability to browse the oceans of the Earth. The project is expected to be announced soon with a running plan to map the ocean floors and seabeds of the deep sea, which will bring Google closer to their goal of mapping the entire planet.

“This is the part that’s really exciting,” said David Sandwell, professor of geophysics at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, at the University of San Diego, “[people] will understand that we know almost nothing about a lot of these places, and Google will do it for us. There are big voids everywhere, but there are a few little spots where we know quite a lot.”