Google rents huge NASA hangar for space exploration research
Google has signed the lease on an airfield that incorporates a huge NASA hangar for the purpose of research into space exploration.
The tech giant will rent NASA’s Moffett Airfield for 60 years at an estimated cost of $1.16 billion. Part of the 1,000 acre airfield site, located in Mountain View California, is given over to a giant 80-year-old airship hangar known as Hanger One.
As part of the deal, Google will need to “rehabilitate and maintain the historic integrity of Hangar One and the Shenandoah Plaza Historic District,” according to NASA. It plans to do so by ploughing an additional $200 million into the site.
There are two additional hangars to renovate and an airfield to maintain as well, and Google will also create an educational facility to teach members of the public about the site and the kind of tech advancements that will no doubt be going on there.
Indeed, it’s stated that Google will be using the three hangars for “research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies.”
Google has made the news this year for its interest in wi-fi-enabled balloons, as well as for apparently wanting to create a global network of internet-enabling satellites. Having its own NASA-approved hangar and airfield would certainly help with those endeavours.
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Via: TechCrunch