[originaltext] Less than an hour ago, Google and NASA announced that they will

Less than an hour ago, Google and NASA announced that they will explore a range of tie-ups from researching data and utilizing Google Earth. As part of that effort, the space agency will make more of its information available online for all to see. Down the road that will include real-time weather visuals and forecasting, 3D maps of the moon and Mars, and real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle.  NASA administrator Michael Griffin says the partnership will allow everyone to "experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through the canyons of Mars". And he says the hope is to make NASA’s space exploration work accessible to everyone. This is just the latest in the string of high-profile Google partnerships this year, the most significant being, of course, Google’s 1.8-billion-dollar deal to buy YouTube, and there have been deals with News Corp’s MySpace and Ebay, Sony, Warner Music Group, Intuit and XM Satellite Radio and that’s just to name a few. Google followers call today’s deal another important part of its grand strategy.