Have you ever wanted to see the moon up close and personal? Well, thanks to Google's most recent innovation ... you can!

In recognition of the 36th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, Google has launched Google Moon, featuring an interactive, zoomable map of the moon's surface with waypoints set for the six Apollo landing sites (courtesy of NASA imagery).

How Does it Work?

The site works just like the Google Maps site does: The closer you zoom in, the more detail of the moon's surface you can see. However, Google Moon only has as much data as NASA was able to give them, so there are currently some limitations on how close to the surface you can zoom.

If you zoom all the way down like I did, you will find a surprise waiting for you ...

Plans on the Horizon

On July 20th, 2069, Google plans on honoring the 100th anniversary of mankind's first manned lunar landing by integrating Google Local search capabilities into Google Moon. This will allow users to quickly find lunar business addresses, numbers and hours of operation, among other valuable forms of moon-oriented local information.

Google Moon.com

Related Articles:

Google Earth Gives You A 3-D View Of The World

Finally -- 21st Century Mapping That Will Astound You

Can Microsoft Keep Up With Google?