Try Google Mars Here!

http://www.google.com/mars/

^^ 很可爱

好东西，有意思。比Google Earth还全

The logo today on Google is to remind us of Percival Lowll's Birdday.

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Percival Lowell was born on March 13, 1855 in Boston, Massachusetts.   In 1872, he began studying at Harvard University, from which institution he graduated with a B.A. degree in 1876.  He also received honorary LL.D degrees from Amherst College in 1907 and Clark University in 1909.
      Prior to 1883, Lowell devoted himself to business interests.  Between 1883 and 1893, Lowell traveled throughout the Far East.  He lived in Japan from time to time during this period, and wrote several books about his experiences in this area.  He also served as the counselor and foreign secretary to the 1883 Special Mission from Korea to the United States, which was the first diplomatic group sent from Korea to any western power.  Following this mission, Lowell stayed in Korea as a guest of the government for several months.
      Lowell decided to take up observational astronomy in 1893 after hearing that Schaparelli, who had originally discovered the Martian canali (which can be translated either as "channels" or "canals") was losing his eyesight and would no longer be able to continue his work on Mars.  In 1894, after extensive site testing, he established his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.  The chief goal of the observatory was to study the solar system and espescially Mars.  Lowell's theory stated that the Martians were trying to keep their planet alive via a worldwide canal network which channeled water from the Martian polar caps to the rest of the planet.  He claimed that the canals were clearer at some times of the year because from Earth one saw the vegetation around the canals rather than the water in the canals themselves.  Therefore, while water was running through the canals, more vegetation grew around them and they became clearer.  Several Martian globes which Lowell illustrated with his findings are contained in the Observatory archives.
      Lowell also conducted research on the other planets in our solar system, particularly Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus.  He was also deeply involved in a search for the ninth planet (Planet X) whose existence he had predicted mathematically by studying the eccentricities of Uranus's orbit not accounted for by Neptune.  Lowell determined the internal constitution of Jupiter and Saturn by observing the movement of their satellites as it was influenced by the mass of the planet.  He also sketched the surface markings of Mercury and determined periods of rotation for Mercury and Venus.  It should, however, be noted that the accuracy of his sketches of Mercuryís surface markings was the subject of much dispute in the scientific community.  Also, one should note that some, if not much, of the data used to form the conclusions published under Lowell's name was gathered by his assistants.  For example, in "On the Spectrographic Investigation of the Rotation Period of the Planet Venus" (1903) Lowell states that V.M. Slipher had made the spectrographs which allowed for the determination of the rotation period of Venus, and in "The Tores of Saturn" (1908) Lowell states that C.O. Lampland did some of the "micrometric measurements" which were included in the article.
      Lowell was also a prolific writer.  In addition to his articles and lectures, he published many books: A Korean Coup díEtât, (1884), Chosön (1886) The Land of the MorningCalm (1885), The Soul of the Far East (1888), Noto (1891), Occult Japan (1894), Mars (1895), The Annals of Lowell Observatory (Vol. 1, 1898, Vol. 2, 1900), The Solar System (1903), Mars and its Canals (1906), Mars as the Abode of Life (1909),and The Evolution of Worlds (1910).
      Percival Lowell died on November 12, 1916 and is buried on Mars Hill.
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A quote from Lowell's
"One day with life and heart is more than time enough to find a world."

帕西瓦尔·罗威尔
维基百科，自由的百科全书
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帕西瓦尔·罗威尔在观察火星
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帕西瓦尔·罗威尔在观察火星

帕西瓦尔·罗威尔（Percival Lowell，1855年3月13日—1916年11月16日），美国天文学家。

罗威尔并非职业天文学家，他出生于波士顿一个很有名望的家庭。1876年他毕业于哈佛大学，专业是数学。毕业后他游历远东，也到过中国。当他听说吉奥万尼·斯切亚帕利尼发现的火星运河后，他对火星产生了极大的兴趣。1894年他用私钱在美国亚利桑那州弗来格斯塔夫建立了罗威尔天文台，专门研究火星。弗来格斯塔夫地势很高，无云日很多。罗威尔画了大量火星表面图并将它们发表。罗威尔在晚年将他的兴趣转向寻找海王星外的太阳系第九颗行星。他死后罗威尔天文台继续这项工作并于1930年真的找到了冥王星。冥王星的缩写PL中含有他的名字的缩写，以示发现者汤博对他的缅怀。

顶！

好！这回倒不会像Google Earth那样遭到各国的反感了。 ^^

有意思 :shock:

Google推出火星地图 用户可自己探索火星
2006年03月14日讯：据国外媒体报道，Google先是推出了Google地球(Google Earth)，随后又推出 Google月球(Google Moon)，本周一，该公司又将服务范围扩展到火星，推出了Google火星(Google Mars)服务。

Google火星是一款基于浏览器的地图工具，用户只需在页面上点击鼠标，就可以对火星有更深入的 了解。Google所使用的火星地图全部来自于美国宇航局的“火星奥德赛”号探测器、“火星全球调 查者”号探测器所拍摄的图片。毫无疑问，Google火星并不提供驾车路线服务，但提供了三种不同 格式的火星地图，帮助用户全方位观察火星。其中包括：按照高度进行色彩编码的海拔地图 、显示 火星地表的黑白可视图像地图、以及表征火星不同区域温度的红外线地图。

在上述三种地图模式下，用户可以通过放大图像浏览火星地貌，如山脉、峡谷、沙丘和环形山。除 此之外，Google火星还标出了已经登陆火星的无人驾驶探测器的位置。美国亚利桑那州立大学行星 地质学家菲尔-克里斯滕森(Phil Christensen)表示，在最新的Google火星地图中，甚至包括了美国 宇航局2004年发射的“勇气号”和“机遇号”火星探测器的位置。亚利桑那州立大学是Google 创建 Google火星服务的合作伙伴。

通过美国宇航局的官方网站，已经有无数火星图片在互联网上传播。但Google火星的开发者称，这 项服务首次为普通用户提供了自己探索火星的机会。克里斯滕森说：“通过Google火星服务，人们 可以更深入地了解火星，揭开它‘神秘的面纱’。”他同时透露，火星地图可能几周更新一次。

上周五，美国宇航局宣布，“火星勘测轨道飞行器”已经成功进入环绕火星的大椭圆轨道。随着“ 火星勘测轨道飞行器”成功进入轨道，人类火星探测史上又增加了一颗火星人造卫星。在此之前， 美国宇航局的“火星奥德赛”号探测器、“火星全球调查者”号探测器以及欧洲航天局的“火星快 车”已经飞行在火星上空。克里斯滕森表示，“火星勘测轨道飞行器”是功能最为强大的火星探测 器，它获得的数据最终将同Google火星结合在一起。