Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are well known for their keen interest in space exploration, and nothing can emphasise this fact more than their commitment to by some space from NASA. 365,760 square metres of real-estate to be exact (that's 1.2 million square feet for the benefit of our imperial audience).

On Wednesday the two companies Google will build a major tech campus at NASA's Ames Research Centre in Mountain View.

"We've always had a need for space and we're planning to be in Silicon Valley for many years to come...This lease is a key part of that strategy."

The campus will house research and development space, company housing, recreation - and possibly even retail shops for Google employees which it will lease initially for $3.66 million a year.