NASA

NASA has teamed up with Google to bolster its space research with the search giant's vast pools of storage and server power.

Speaking on a conference call today, NASA officials explained that the two organizations will work together on "large-scale data management," suggesting that Google's data centers will play their part in the space agency's future projects.

"We're in the business of space exploration and we're obtaining a lot of data," said Pete Worden, director of the NASA Ames Research Center, explaining that the agency is already generating "unbelievable" data from its Mars research.

Initially, the two organizations will make data from Mars and the Moon available on the Web. "It's designed to make the data that NASA has collected and will continue to collect in the future much more available to the public," said Worden.

NASA and Google are already collaborating on a project called Global Connection, which incorporates data and images from the space agency and National Geographic publications into a Google Earth-style Web interface. Global Connection was used to support disaster relief in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as last year's earthquake in Pakistan.