Google Plans To Lease a NASA-Owned Airfield

[engine]

Google latest "moonshot" is an apt one - it is investing in a Nasa-owned airfield to expand research into space exploration and robotics.

Planetary Ventures, an offshoot of Google, will take over management of the Moffett Federal Airfield.

The airfield is already regularly used as a landing strip for the private jets of the firm's billionaire executives.

Google has not divulged exactly how the site will be used.Google Plans To Lease a NASA-Owned Airfield [bbc.co.uk]

[tangor]

Google has been at Moffet for a few years already, but this is a much longer term deal. More:

Google has done a deal with NASA allowing it to lease Moffett Federal Airfield, a vast chunk of land that includes three hangars, two runways, and a golf course.

While NASA will rake in more than a billion dollars in rent and make big savings on maintenance costs over the 60-year lease term, Google will have an enormous space close to its Mountain View headquarters where it intends to work on projects linked to space exploration, aviation, and robotics. A few rounds of golf will no doubt be enjoyed, too.

[foxnews.com...]

Moffet, of course, is most famous for the USA big dirigibles in the 1930s (West Coast). The other site was Lakehurst (East Coast) where the Hindenburg went down in flames.

Both sites are important because of the massive hangers and location near (yet far enough away) population centers. G has been parking a fleet of at least seven company owned aircraft at Moffet for some years... and this deal appears to make that relationship extend for another 60 years.

[samwest]

I thought Google was going to build it's own airports...and cities, complete with cameras and biometrics to track your every move and probably thoughts too. Most of what they do nowadays just creeps me out.