Business

Google founders have rented a federal airstrip
by Corina Ciubotaru

How would you like to be 34, own one of the most successful companies in the world, have your personal airplane and land it 10 minutes away from your office? The guys at Google do just that. Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-founders of Google, own a Boeing 767 and recently, they have been granted permission from NASA to use the Moffett Field air strip for their planes. In addition to the 767, the two also own two Gulfstream jets that they occasionally use and all of these planes will now be housed in a hangar at the air base. It looks like a good deal for everyone: NASA gets $2.3 million dollars from the two-year agreement and the possibility to use the planes for research, while the Google presidents have a space to house their planes just 10 minutes away from the Googleplex. The only ones finding the deal offensive are the inhabitants of Sunnyvale, a town neighboring Moffett Field, who have been struggling for years to keep the air strip unavailable to non-federal flights. The move, though legal by all accounts, could create a precedent and this is what the people of Sunnyvale are most worried about. Google expressed their interest in the Moffett Field facility two years ago, when they also announced the plans to build an office building at the Ames Research Center and aid NASA in research projects. On August 31st, the Google plane was first used by NASA scientists to study the Aurigid meteor shower.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070913/ap_on_hi_te/google_founders_jet;_ylt=AuNb.ODfJ9dOlHpuyQ832YOs0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

posted by Blog TechSource @ 2:40 PM