Big Brother: NASA World Wind
NASA World Wind is an amazing virtual globe that includes a collection of layers. World Wind lets the users zoom out from the outer space to any location on the planet Earth. World Wind helps with elevation data and satellite imagery to allow users to experience terrain on the Earth inc a rich 3D, just as if the user is there. The user can virtually visit every place in the world, look across the Himalayas, into the Pacific Ocean, over the mountain range or along the famous African desert, Sahara. NASA is regularly adding new layers in this program. Additional data that can be placed on the globe includes place names, country borders, longitude and latitude. Every new layer adds to the value of the program. It gives a very different perspective to the existing data. All the layers are extremely useful for different kind of users. This introduction process is on all the time.
NASA, very respected and experienced name world over, is always striving for better quality. There is vast difference between first introductory version of World Wind and the latest one available today. That is just because of the amount of efforts NASA is putting in World Wind. It is a clear indication that NASA is not compromising on any front. NASA World Wind has provided an opportunity to travel around the globe for all. There is practically no barrier for anyone.
There is some competition or company to World Wind. Google Earth, which was formerly famous as Keyhole, can be termed as the younger sibling of NASA World Wind, and is a strong competitor. The feel and look is quite similar. Google Earth and World Wind have high-resolution images of few areas and very low-resolution images of the other areas. The high and low-resolution areas are same. This is a similarity. On the other hand, there are some differences as well. NASA World Wind is an open source program, (as per the terms of NASA Open Source Agreement), Google Earth is a closed source program (all the data such as maps, street plans, 3D buildings and primary code is copyrighted).
NASA World Wind, even after being open source, is not open with operating systems other than Windows. It relies heavily on .NET libraries and to some extent, DirectX. Google, on the other hand has pledged support for Mac OS X versions and Linux in case of Google Earth. NASA World Wind is free to date and is believed to remain free in near future. All plug-ins and add-ons are free to all and anytime available, whereas Google Earth charges for additional services, which it provides, like GPS navigation.
World Wind and Google Earth are backed by famous and powerful names like Google and NASA respectively. Both are giants having immense backing and power to succeed in their respective ventures. Both companies are trying hard to deliver the best product and this tussle is beneficial for the users. Users are going to be the only benefiters. Users are going to have state of the art product, which will give them a chance to roam around the Earth!
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