How does google earth work?

Someone told me that google earth uses a van with a camera on it to get the images but i think its by satellites.



so i looked online and wikipedia said the street view comes from a van

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_earth#Street_View



but i went to howstuffworks.com and they said aircraft and satellite

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/google-earth1.htm



are we both right? but anybody can write on wikipedia right?

do the use satellite for just looking straight down and the van for the streets?How does google earth work?
You answered yourself for this one. Both sources are correct. You should know that both wikipedia and howstuffworks are trusted sources and both come with very few errors.

Originally google earth came only with the "air" view (from the satelite and aircraft cameras). It is not long since google introduced a new feature, "street view", the view taken from a special van with a camera attached. The two ways of presenting the earth are independent.

You have seen that only some cities have the streets view feature available.How does google earth work?
It is satellites.How does google earth work?
Its mainly satellites, but they will use low flying aircraft for closer shots and cars/vans for the street views.



Google Google Earth and you will find all sorts of weird stuff, including a pic of a few guys and camels in the sandbox, and they are looking up at the camera. I don't remember the coordinates, but you can find it by googling Google Earth.