The Endeavour Shuttle Captured in 3D via Microsoft's Photosynth

Users around the world are now able to access an extensive collection of imagery of the Endeavour shuttle, courtesy of Microsoft and NASA. Via Microsoft's Photosynth, the Redmond company has set up a 3D model of the shuttle and the launchpad using traditional 2D photographs. Through Photosynth - Microsoft's photo-imaging technology accessible online via the supported browsers including IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5 and Firefox 2.0 running on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista - users will be able to browse through and view imagery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"This collaboration with Microsoft gives the public a new way to explore and participate in America's space program," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations. "We are looking into ways of using this new technology to support future missions."

"With Photosynth, we take pictures of an environment and knit them together into an experience that people can move through like a 3-D video game," said Blaise Aguera y Arcas, architect at Microsoft Live Labs. "NASA provided us with some outstanding images and the result is an experience that will wow anyone wanting to get a closer look at the Endeavour and its travels."

In order to get a unique perspective on the Endeavor shuttle, all you have to do is make your way to the NASA Photosynth Home. The online environment is a three-dimensional construct or synth of hundreds of photographs molded together to deliver a unique perspective in Photosynth, a technology built from the combined efforts of Microsoft Research and the University of Washington.

NASA Photosynth Home will offer a unique view and details of Endeavor on the launchpad, but also the Vehicle Assembly Building, a one-story building designed to house the shuttle's fuel tanks, and the largest of its kind in the world, and the shuttle Atlantis' flight STS-117, from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility.