Google lands on Mars with maps for red planet’s fans
Los Angeles – On Monday, Google Inc. expanded its galactic reach by launching Google Mars, a Web browser-based mapping tool that gives users an up-close, interactive view of the red planet with the click of a mouse.
The martian maps were made from images taken by NASA’s orbiting Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor and are available at www.google.com/mars.
Google Mars doesn’t provide driving directions, but users can see the planet in three formats: The martian elevation map is color-coded by altitude; the visible-imagery map shows the surface in black-and-white pictures; the infrared map indicates temperature, with cooler areas dark and warmer areas bright.
Users also can zoom in on any of the three maps to view geographical features such as mountains, canyons, dunes and craters. The maps also pinpoint the locations of unmanned space probes that have landed on Mars.
The up-to-date maps even include the locations of the NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which have been exploring opposite ends of the planet since 2004, said Phil Christensen, an Arizona State University planetary geologist who operates an infrared camera on the Mars Odyssey. Arizona State worked with Google to create the maps.
SANTA MONICA, Calif.
’80s game-show host, wife die in plane crash
A former TV game-show host and his wife were killed Monday when their small plane crashed into Santa Monica Bay. Rescue crews were searching for a third person also aboard the plane.
The bodies of Peter Tomarken, 63, host of the 1980s game show “Press Your Luck,” and his wife, Kathleen, 41, were identified by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
The plane was on its way to San Diego to ferry a medical patient to UCLA Medical Center, said a spokesman for Angel Flight West, a nonprofit that provides free air transportation for needy patients.
Tomarken was a pilot and a volunteer for the group.
CHICAGO
Deliberations begin in ex-governor’s case
A federal jury began deliberating Monday in the corruption case against former Illinois Gov. George Ryan.
The judge gave the jury final instructions Friday, but the jurors were given the weekend off after five months and thousands of pages of testimony from 83 witnesses.
Jurors deliberated about 6 1/2 hours Monday. They were expected to resume today.
Ryan, 72, is accused of taking vacations and other favors to steer state business to cronies. Businessman Larry Warner, 67, a friend of Ryan’s, is also charged.
PONTIAC, Mich.
No plea deal for son accused in stabbing
A teen accused of stabbing his mother 111 times withdrew his guilty plea Monday after a judge rejected a plea deal that would have freed him within 34 years.
Christopher Dankovich, 16, faces a March 27 preliminary examination on charges of murder and using a computer to commit a crime.
Oakland County Circuit Judge John McDonald said a prison term of 22 1/2 to 34 years was too light for the crime.
SANTIAGO, Chile
President says some to get free health care
Newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet said Monday that all Chileans older than 60 will immediately begin receiving free care at public hospitals.
“This will become effective immediately,” the Socialist physician said at a news conference. “This is possible because it does not require a law.”
Further details were to be announced later, and some media reported the plan probably would cover only those registered with the state insurance system.
MEXICO CITY
Office investigating atrocities set to close
Mexico will close a special prosecutor’s office dedicated to investigating atrocities committed by the government during its two-decade campaign to weed out suspected guerrillas and leftists, the attorney general said Monday.
Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca said it could cease operations as soon as April 15, after a final report from the special prosecutor.
The report is expected to conclude that Mexican presidents from the late 1960s to the early 1980s orchestrated a systematic campaign in which anti-government activists were detained without cause and soldiers carried out executions, raped women and set villages on fire.
SEOUL, South Korea
Premier offers to quit over golf criticism
South Korea’s prime minister offered to resign today amid opposition criticism for playing golf when he was expected to oversee the government’s response to a railway strike, the president’s spokesman said.
Lee Hae-Chan relayed his intention to step down to President Roh Moo-Hyun. Roh will decide on Lee’s fate after receiving a full report, presidential spokesman Kim Man-Soo said.
Lee has been under fire for golfing March 1, the first day of a nationwide railway walkout.
