Google has just signed a 60-year lease for part of a historic U.S. Navy airbase. It plans to renovate the three massive hangers in he base and use them for aviation, space exploration and robotics projects.

The American multinational corporation agreed to pay an astounding $1.16 billion in rent over the next six decades. The property also includes a working airfield, a golf course and other buildings.

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The site is 1,000 acres large and is part of the former Moffett Field Naval Air Station on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Apart from its initial spend, Google also plans on investing as much as $200 million to refurbish and restore the hangers, while adding other improvements.

Among the improvements will be a museum or educational facility that will showcase the history of Moffett and Silicon Valley.

NASA released an official statement saying a Google subsidiary called Planetary Ventures will use the hangers for research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, robotics and other emerging technologies.

Google has acquired several smaller companies working on satellite technology and robotics. One of them is Boston Dynamics that recently unveiled the Atlas Robot and its latest trick.

The robot is 1.8 meters tall and weighs about 330 pounds. It's equipped with 28 hydraulic joints and stereo vision. To date, it's one of the most advanced robots ever made.

The trick the Atlas Robot is programmed to do is the iconic crane kick from the movie, Karate Kid (1984).

The robot, nicknamed Ian, recently placed second in the U.S. government's recent Robo-Olympics despite competing as a virtual software simulation.

In the contest, the bot was able to walk, carry a fire hose and even get into a car and drive it.

Atlas is powered by an off-board electric power supply via a flexible tether. A newer version promises to remove this.

TagsNASA, Robotics, Boston Dynamics, Atlas Robots