Sally Ride Science Contributes Science Content to Google Earth's New Sky Feature

(San Diego) - Astronauts like Sally Ride know first-hand what it is like to float through space and look out at the stars and galaxies. Now teachers and students can explore the universe and learn about astronomy — from their computers — with a new feature in Google Earth, and science content from Sally Ride Science™.

To educate visitors as they tour the universe, Sally Ride Science contributes cutting-edge content on nebulae and exoplanets to Sky in Google Earth. The Sky feature allows users of Google Earth to view the sky as seen from planet Earth and navigate through 100 million individual stars and 200 million galaxies. The Sally Ride Science content, which appears as a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) file on Sky, is drawn from the new Sally Ride Science Classroom Set on Astronomy, one of four Classroom Sets available to schools this fall.

“I'm always looking for cool tools that can engage kids and help them learn more about our world,” said Dr. Ride, president and CEO of Sally Ride Science. “We’re excited to contribute our knowledge and experience to Sky in Google Earth to bring astronomy to life for teachers and students — or anyone who has ever looked up at the sky and wanted to know more.”

With Sky and the Astronomy Classroom Set, teachers and students can learn about some of Ride’s favorite extra-solar places — nebulae where stars are born, remnants of exploding stars, and even stars that have planets orbiting around them.

The Astronomy Classroom Set brings science to life with nonfiction readers that examine the latest scientific findings about our solar system and beyond, including the reclassification of Pluto to a “dwarf planet.” The set presents information about scientists and the tools developed to study stars and exoplanets light years away. Sally Ride Science also offers Classroom Sets on the Solar System, Science Careers, and Climate Change. Each set presents critical content through clear and lively text, vibrant photography, thought provoking activities and real-world examples from cutting-edge scientists.

In addition to contributing science content, Ride posts a blog on Google Earth to share her insights and experiences about space and science. The first installment can be found at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/view-from-sky.html.

To learn more about Sky, Ride and Google engineer Greg Coombe showcase some of Sky’s capabilities and the wonders of space in a brief video available on Google Earth at http://earth.google.com/sky/index.html.

About Sally Ride Science
Sally Ride Science is an innovative science content company dedicated to supporting girls’ and boys’ interests in science, math and technology. Dr. Sally Ride, best known as America’s first woman in space, founded the company inOur programs include Sally Ride Science Festivals; the TOYchallenge, a national toy design competition for grades 5-8; educator institutes; summer camps; and after-school programs. Our publications include award-winning science books, science career books, a science newsletter, and Classroom Sets to supplement science instruction. All together, our publications and programs bring science to life and show kids that science is creative, collaborative, fascinating and fun. For more information go to www.SallyRideScience.com or call 1-800-561-5161. 2001 to create quality programs and products that educate, entertain, engage and inspire.