Google aid in Fossett search
Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:19 am
Images from Google Earth are being enrolled in the search for adventurer Steve Fossett.
Many people are scouring up-to-date satellite images of Nevada to try to spot Mr Fossett's downed plane or wreckage.
The project is being co-ordinated via Amazon's human-powered problem solving scheme called the Mechanical Turk.
It comes after a frustrating weekend in which searchers failed to turn up any sign of Mr Fossett.
False alarm
Mr Fossett went missing on 3 September after taking off in his single-engine Citabria aircraft from the Flying M Ranch near Yerington, Nevada. The trip was supposed to last a maximum of three hours.
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The creators of the search scheme said Mr Fossett's plane would appear as an object about "21 pixels long and 30 pixels in wingspan".
Flagged images will be passed on to the search team co-ordinating flights over the area where Mr Fossett is thought to have gone missing.
Talking to reporters, Nevada Civil Air Patrol Major Cynthia Ryan welcomed the help but said it was unlikely that Google Earth would have picked up anything that military satellites would not spot.
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