Explore planets and moons in Google Maps

Google has revealed a spectacular new addition to its online mapping service letting users discover and explore the surface of several plants in the solar system and their moons.

This feat has notably been made possible thanks to pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in 1997 on a mission to discover the secrets of Saturn and its many moons. During this mission, Cassini recorded and sent nearly 500,000 pictures to scientists on Earth, allowing them to reconstruct these far-off worlds in unprecedented detail. Now everyone can explore these distant lands via Google Maps. As well as Saturn, users can explore the surface of its moons, such as Titan, Mimas and Enceladus, where Cassini discovered water hinting at potential signs of life.

Google Maps can also be used to explore the surface of the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Pluto, as well as take a look inside the International Space Station.

These new additions are available exclusively on the web-based version of Google Maps. They could possibly roll out to mobile versions at a later date.

Explore the galaxy with Google Maps: google.com/maps