Moffett Users

OK, first of all, it’s not the “Google jet.” It’s a Boeing 767 reportedly owned by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. And the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Page and Brin have been given permission to use Moffett Field.

The 767 had been spotted departing Moffett for Spain according to Valleywag, a gossip web site popular with internet geeks in the Bay Area (like me).

That was a topic of conversation for the Save Hangar One volunteers gathering signatures at the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival this weekend. How did they get permission? NASA says private aircraft may not use Moffett. Sure, Google and NASA have a development deal in the works. But how would that apply to a jet that isn’t owned by Google?

I was in Sunnyvale Sunday afternoon, and I saw a large jet transport aircraft on final to Moffett Field. I don’t know what the “Google Jet” looks like, but I wondered if that wasn’t it, perhaps returning from Spain.

Turns out there’s more to the story. Reporter Daniel DeBolt of the Mountain View Voice has been investigating, and he says a story to be published later this week will include NASA’s response.