Japan Hopes for Hitomi Replacement (Source:
Asahi Shimbun)
The Japanese space agency JAXA is seeking to fly a replacement for the
Hitomi astronomy spacecraft lost earlier this year. JAXA officials said
Thursday they want the government to develop an updated version of
Hitomi that could launch as soon as 2020. Hitomi, launched in February,
went into an uncontrolled spin in March because of a series of errors,
causing spacecraft components to break off and ending the mission.
Japan's science and technology ministry will study the options for a
new mission "in the days ahead," according to a report. (7/15)
FCC Approves 5G Wireless Plans,
Despite Satellite Interference Concerns (Sources: Reuters, SIA)
The Federal Communications Commission approved plans Thursday to
develop 5G wireless broadband systems despite some interference
concerns from satellite operators. FCC commissioners voted unanimously
to allow the use of spectrum in several bands between 28 and 39
gigahertz for next-generation terrestrial wireless broadband systems.
U.S. companies are planning tests of 5G systems in 2017 with full-scale
deployment around 2020. The satellite industry was concerned that use
of that spectrum for terrestrial systems could interfere with satellite
applications at similar frequencies. The Satellite Industry
Association, in a statement, said it was encouraged by some provisions
in the FCC decision but remained worried about "potential aggregate
interference." (7/15)
Precursor to Commercial Space Station?
NASA Seeks Ideas for ISS Docking Port (Source: Space News)
NASA is seeking ideas for how it can use a docking port on the ISS. The
agency released earlier this month a request for information about use
of "limited availability, unique" capabilities on the station,
specifically mentioning a docking port being used temporarily by the
experimental BEAM module. NASA officials suggest the port could later
host a commercial module as a precursor for a full-fledged commercial
space station once the ISS is retired. Both Bigelow Aerospace and Axiom
Space have expressed interest in developing commercial modules that
could initially be docked on the ISS. (7/15)
Antares/Cygnus Return-to-Flight
Confirmed for Aug. 22 at Virginia Spaceport (Source: NASA)
NASA has set a new launch date for the next Cygnus mission of no
earlier than August 22. The launch, from Wallops Island, Virginia, will
be the first for the upgraded version of Orbital ATK's Antares rocket
using RD-181 main engines, replacing the AJ26 engines implicated in the
Antares launch failure in October 2014. NASA and Orbital ATK had
recently only said the launch would take place some time in August.
(7/15)
Glenn's Mercury Flight Instructions Up
for Auction (Source CollectSpace)
Instructions used by John Glenn on his historic 1962 Mercury flight are
up for action. The instructions are in the form of a scroll more than
one meter long that Glenn could move up and down during the course of
his flight, the first U.S. crewed orbital mission. The auction runs
through July 21, and the minimum bid for the instructions is $25,000.
(7/15)
Opinion: Can Aircraft And Space
Traffic Coexist? (Source: Aviation Week)
In addition to some 70,000 aircraft traversing the National Airspace
System (NAS) each day, commercial enterprises are rapidly introducing a
widening variety of new space vehicles and launchers into it. In 2015,
22 of the world’s 86 orbital launches were commercial. And today,
vertical launch vehicles with “fly-back” boosters that return to Earth
autonomously, launchers that take off and land on runways, and
captive-carry concepts are operational or in testing and production.
For the last several years, the FAA has been working on how to
accommodate these new operators in the safest and most efficient manner
possible. In this endeavor, it has enlisted Mitre Corp., a
not-for-profit organization that operates the agency’s federally funded
research and development center. The agency has identified several
needs that are critical to its long-term vision and goal of integrating
space vehicle operations into the everyday cadence of NAS operations.
One is the ability to track space vehicles and fly-back boosters—and
their jettisoned parts—as they transit to and return from space so FAA
air traffic controllers and flow managers can develop and execute
traffic management plans strategically and dynamically. Currently, the
FAA must clear large blocks of airspace around the launch and recovery
sites to ensure sufficient buffer zones, particularly in case of
malfunctions. Click here.
(7/15)
How a NASA Engineer Created the Modern
Airplane Wing (Source: Space Daily)
Once dubbed "the man who could see air," NASA engineer Richard T.
Whitcomb used a combination of visualization and intuition to
revolutionize modern aviation - by turning the shape of the airplane
wing on its head. For decades, Whitcomb had been working on getting
aircraft to move faster and more efficiently. By the time he was 34, he
had already won the most prestigious honor in aviation, the 1954
Collier Trophy, for his critical work to overcome the aviation
challenge of the day - the sound barrier. Click here.
(7/13)
What To Avoid When Patenting
Government-Funded Inventions (Source: Law360)
Under the Bayh-Dole Act, a small business can patent an invention made
with federal funding. But if the small business doesn’t properly notify
the government about the invention, then the government can take title
to the patent or patent application. Worse, if takes title, the
government does not have to license the patent to the small business.
In some circumstances, the government can even take title to inventions
conceived outside the scope of the funding agreement. (7/14)
This is What it Would Look Like to
Land on the Surface of Pluto (Source: WIRED)
Now, to celebrate 365 days since its flyby, the space agency has
simulated what it would be like to land on the surface. The video is
only a concept and has been stitched together from more than 100 images
taken by the spacecraft. In the 12 months since the passing of Pluto
and its moons, New Horizons has beamed back reams of data for
scientists to analyze. Click here.
(7/15)
UK Mounts ‘Spaceport’ Feasibility
Studies (Source: Advanced Television)
The UK government has awarded 5 businesses with feasibility study
contracts, worth in total £1.5 million, (€1.8m) to a group of
industrial operations in order to evaluate the practicality of mounting
orbital or sub-orbital ‘rocket flights’ from the UK. The five teams are:
Airbus-Safran Launchers, which is keen to build a small satellite
launcher as well as working on a space tourism rocket. Deimos Space UK,
which is developing a vertical launch rocket. Lockheed Martin, which
wants to build a version of its Athena satellite launch system. Virgin
Galactic, which is planning its SpaceShipTwo sub-orbital launcher. And
Orbital Access of the UK, which is working with BAE Systems and
Reaction Engines on a modified single-stage-to-orbit system. (7/14)
Russia, China Move Closer to Joint
Moon, Mars Missions (Source: Washington Times)
The U.S. might soon see two of its Cold War adversaries move closer to
an agreement on joint missions to colonize Mars and the moon. Russia
and China discussed expanding their cooperation to explore outer space,
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. The lead officials
for Chinese-Russian relations announced plans for joint space
exploration last April, suggesting they might establish a Sino-Russian
base on the moon. One year later, they’ve added Mars to the discussion.
“We’re developing an understanding for the rocket and space industry
for possible interaction in such profound and technologically complex
projects as the future exploration of the moon, Mars and piloted
cosmonautics,” Mr. Rogozin said. The Russian vice-premier made the
announcement during a talk with the heads of Russian regions and
Chinese provinces and the managers of companies from both nations in
Yekaterinburg, Russia. (7/14)
This Russian Space Program Tour
Includes Witnessing a Live Launch (Source: Travel & Leisure)
If you're feeling nostalgic for the Cold War-era space race, an agency
specializing in travel to Russia has the tour for you. MIR Corporation
is offering an “exclusive tour” of the Russian space program this
September for $14,495 per person. It's an unusual opportunity to see
the history of Russian space exploration while also witnessing history
in the making. (7/14)
Hawaiian Student Taking Part in Big
Island Mars Simulation (Source: KITV)
A dome in a lava field on Mauna Loa on the Big Island will be the home
for Tristan Bassinthwaite until the end of August. Bassinthwaite and
five others have been living in the dome as part of an 8-month space
exploration project. His homework while he's here is to design
structures for other people to someday live in other lava fields.
"It can be underground, in a dome, in printed ice dome, in a 3-D
printed structure, a tin can," said Bassinthwaite. From the lava fields
of the Big Island to Mars, where one might encounter inhospitable
environments, these structures will serve as safety containers for
human life. The rough surface conditions on the lava fields on
Mauna Loa are similar to the surface of the Red Planet. (7/14)
Space Vets To Lawmakers: Stay The
Course (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. should stay the course with the Space Launch System
exploration rocket and Orion crew capsule to underpin NASA’s human
deep-space exploration ambitions, while fostering a growing commercial
presence in low Earth orbit as the U.S. undergoes a transition in
presidential administrations, industry and government veterans told
members of Congress during a hearing this week. (7/14)
NanoRacks Advances International Space
Station Utilization (Source: NanoRacks)
NanoRacks is proudly advancing International Space Station (ISS)
utilization across a wide range of users – from education to
international organizations to professional researchers – both inside
and outside of Station – all on one mission. On SpaceX’s Commercial
Resupply Mission-9 (SpaceX-9), scheduled for the early hours of Monday
July 18, are over 25 payloads that will utilize NanoRacks commercial
research facilities both in the U.S. National Lab and external to
Station. (7/15)
ESA Plans Euro-Russian Lunar
Exploration to Go Beyond Apollo (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency’s penchant for a major lunar exploration
program that would precede a full-scale exploration of Mars was fully
in evidence on July 12 with the signing of a contract to put an ESA
drill on Russia’s Luna-Resurs lunar lander. It remains unclear whether
ESA’s principal member states, notably France, share the 22-nation
agency’s emerging “Moon First, Mars Later” opinion.
On July 8, the president of the French space agency, Jean-Yves Le Gall,
reiterated his view that what’s going on at NASA and in the U.S.
private sector, notably with SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, make it
more likely that human missions to Mars will occur sooner than the
2030s. French scientists have long preferred Mars to the Moon as an
exploration destination and CNES has participated on nearly all the
NASA-led Mars missions in recent years. (7/14)
Building a Commercial Market in Low
Earth Orbit (Source: Space Daily)
This April marked the sixth anniversary of President Obama's landmark
address on space policy at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In
his speech, the President set out the goal of sending American
astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, using a strategy that encourages
innovation and entrepreneurship in space exploration through
investments in new space technologies and partnerships with the private
sector as well as academia and other non-traditional partners.
Six years later, we have made great progress toward our goals, and the
commercial space industry is expanding rapidly. The United States is
closer to sending human beings to Mars than anyone, anywhere, at any
time has ever been.In the next decade, NASA's human space exploration
program will shift its focus from operations in low-Earth orbit (LEO)
to moving out in to Earth-Moon orbits, namely, cislunar and deep space,
where astronauts are days, or weeks, away from Earth. (7/14)
Senators Hope SLS/Orion Can Avoid
Constellation's Fate (Source: Space News)
Members of the Senate's space subcommittee said Wednesday they want SLS
and Orion to avoid the same fate as Constellation. Sen. Ted Cruz
(R-TX), chairman of the subcommittee, said he wants to give NASA
"security and stability" for those programs during the upcoming
presidential transition, and warned of dire consequences to NASA and
industry should the next president cancel those programs.
NASA and other witnesses said work on SLS and Orion is going well and
those programs are farther along now than Constellation was eight years
ago. Members of the subcommittee suggested they would seek to pass a
new NASA authorization bill, but offered no timeline for that
legislation. (7/14)
Chinese Space Lab Reentry Not an
Immediate Concern (Source: Mashable)
A Chinese space laboratory module does not pose a near-term risk of
reentry, according to satellite observers. The Tiangong-1 module has
been retired by China, and it's unclear if Chinese engineers have the
ability to perform a controlled reentry of the spacecraft. However, the
spacecraft's orbit is delaying slowly, and will not reenter until some
time next year even if China takes no action to adjust its orbit. (7/14)
Where is JPL? (Source: San
Gabriel Valley Tribune)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which sends spacecraft across the
solar system with great precision, doesn't know exactly where on Earth
it is. Two California cities, Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, claim
to be the home of JPL. The lab is within the city limits of La Cañada
Flintridge, but the lab predates the incorporation of the city, and
continues to use Pasadena as its mailing address and in its own press
releases. Pasadena is also more familiar to the general public, and to
film industry that has cooperated with JPL on movies like The Martian.
"I think between Hollywood and the Post Office, we’ve got it covered,"
said Terry Tornek, mayor of Pasadena. (7/13)
Next SpaceX Launch Will Bring Critical
Docking Adapter to ISS (Source: The Verge)
The International Space Station is getting an important piece of cargo
next week: a new International Docking Adapter, or IDA, that will allow
future crewed spacecraft to automatically dock with the station. The
large metallic ring, which measures 63 inches in diameter, will
eventually be installed on the Harmony module. This is the second IDA
to be sent to space, though the first one never actually made it to
orbit; it was destroyed when the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying it to
the ISS disintegrated during launch in June 2015.
This new IDA is slated to launch early Monday morning from Cape
Canaveral, Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The vehicle will carry
around 3,800 pounds of fresh cargo and science experiments, including a
space-based DNA sequencer called minION that will be used by NASA
astronaut Kate Rubins to sequence DNA in space for the first time. But
the IDA is perhaps the key item onboard. (7/14)
DigitalGlobe Unveils Next-Generation
Imaging Satellite (Source: Tech Crunch)
Dr.Walter Scott, founder and CTO of DigitalGlobe, spent nearly four
years designing and building WorldView 4. All the components are
powered by solar panels on the base-unit. WorldView uses a standard
base-unit from Lockheed Martin to cut down on costs and uses a custom
adapter to connect the optics.
WorldView 4 is very similar in design to WorldView 3, the company’s
previous imaging satellite. The United States Government currently has
first priority over WorldView 3 but has not paid for first-priority
direct access to the new satellite. This opens up additional
opportunities to leverage imaging in the private sector. A second
high-powered satellite will allow WorldView 3 to spend less time in
transit for shoots. This amounts to more time capturing imagery for
both satellites.
There’s a good chance that you’ve seen DigitalGlobe’s technology
before. A large portion of satellite imagery in Google Maps and Google
Earth comes from the company. WorldView 4 will be launching with the
United Launch Alliance on an Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force
Base on September 15th 2016. (7/14)
Iridium Satellites Rolling Off
Assembly Line in Arizona (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Construction is complete on the first batch of 81 new satellites to
overhaul Iridium’s mobile communications network, and the data relay
stations will soon head from their factory near Phoenix to California’s
hilly Central Coast for launch in September on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The satellites will be shipped in pairs on a truck to Vandenberg Air
Force Base, where they will be fueled and mated with the Falcon 9
launcher for liftoff at 10:33 p.m. PDT on Sept. 11 from Space Launch
Complex 4-East. The flight will mark the third Falcon 9 launch from
Vandenberg, and the first launch from there of an upgraded
“full-thrust” version of the booster with higher-power Merlin engines
and super-chilled propellants. (7/14)
Now is the Perfect Time to Sequence
DNA in Space (Source: Inverse)
Very early Monday morning in Florida, SpaceX will launch its flagship
Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space
Station and send 2,200 pounds of supplies in its ninth ISS resupply
mission. The cargo includes crew supplies, tools and objects needed for
the 250 new and ongoing scientific investigations being carried out on
the space station, and essential hardware that will improve the
stations functionality.
The scientific tools going up on this mission are particularly exciting
this time around. At a press conference held Wednesday \ at the
International Space Station R&D Conference 2016, NASA researchers
and administrators discussed four major scientific and technological
investigations that will begin after the Dragon capsule delivers the
necessary supplies.
In line with increased biological research happening on the ISS, NASA
will conduct the first-ever DNA sequencing experiment in space. Sarah
Wallace, a microbiologist at Johnson Space Center, and her team are
sending up a prototype DNA sequencer that she describes as half the
size of a smartphone — “incredibly small,” she says. The device is
actually capable of doing much more than parsing through DNA, and can
sequence RNA and proteins as well. (7/13)
A Medical Revolution Is Underway in
Orbit (Source: Inverse)
If you get sick here on Earth, there’s a pretty standard set of things
you do to get a diagnosis. You can provide some blood, hop in an fMRI,
pee in a cup, or get your throat cultured. Then it’s off to the
pharmacy with you for that prescription that will accelerate the
recovery process or make the symptoms a little more bearable. This is
how the modern world does medicine, but the infrastructure that allows
for this order of operations is too vast, unwieldy, and expensive to
shoot into outer space. So, if humans are to leave Earth, we must first
figure out a way to stay alive and healthy in a new environment. We’ve
got our smartest people working on it.
Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in
La Jolla, California, has some thoughts. Topol, a leading expert on
emerging trends in healthcare and medicine, sat down with Ellen Stofan,
NASA’s chief scientist, at the International Space Station R&D
Conference 2016 this week to provide some insight on what astronauts of
the future might be doing to diagnose and treat their own medical
problems without a physician close by, and how NASA and other space
agencies are investigating and advancing these new technologies and
techniques. (7/13)
UK Campbeltown Spaceport Plans
Progressing (Source: Argyll-Bute)
A spokesman for DiscoverSpaceUK said: “We continue to develop our
business model and engage with a number of aerospace companies to make
them aware of the distinct advantages Machrihanish and Campbeltown can
offer and firmly believe that the assets and location offer a complete
and safe spaceport solution. (7/14)
CFS Debuts Campaign About Space
Exploration (Source: MediaPost)
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, the industry association for the
private space industry, and its agency Viceroy Creative are introducing
a new campaign to make space exploration sexy.
Since NASA, no other team of specialists, including individuals that
have been to space and have worked in the industry, have come together
to brand a company in this way. They say this is the first time an
organization is bringing everyone together to create an unified message.
"The famous companies have done a great job in press and marketing –
Virgin, SpaceX, Blue Origin – but there is a whole constellation of
companies working in this field," says David Moritz, president, Viceroy
Creative. "Everything from vehicles to rocket parts, software,
spacesuits, everything that’s necessary. People need to be aware
of how cool it is that private companies are doing this work, and that
space is open for business." (7/13)
UF Scientist Wins Life Science
Research Award (Source: AIAA)
Recognizing the importance to aeronautics of scientific endeavors in
the field of medicine, the Jeffries Aerospace Medicine and Life
Sciences Research Award was established in 1940 to honor the memory of
the American physician, John Jeffries, whose scientific investigations
were published in a “Narrative of Two Aerial Voyages” in 1786.
Dr. Robert J. Ferl of the University of Florida won this year's award
in the category of Technical Excellence for conducting cutting edge
space biology, and for mentoring others in spaceflight research;
pushing the boundaries of where biology can travel. (7/14)
Embry-Riddle Professor Honored in
Florida Space Worker Hall of Fame (Source: SPACErePORT)
The National Space Club's Florida Committee will honor multiple
Floridians for their excellent work in support of the state's space
industry during an August 9 luncheon at Cape Canaveral. Among the
inductees to the Florida Space Worker Hall of Fame will be Dr. Lance
Erickson, who spearheaded the development of a Space Operations
undergraduate degree program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univerity in
Daytona Beach. (7/14)
Why Did Jimmy Carter Save the Space
Shuttle? (Source: Ars Technica)
This could not go on, and according to Kraft the situation boiled over
during a 1978 meeting in a large conference floor on the 9th floor of
Building 1, the Houston center’s headquarters. All the program managers
and other center directors gathered there along with NASA’s top
leadership. That meeting included Administrator Robert Frosch, a
physicist President Carter had appointed a year earlier.
Kraft recalls laying bare the budget jeopardy faced by the shuttle. “We
were totally incapable of meeting any sort of flight schedule,” he
said. Further postponing the vehicle would only add to the problem
because the vehicle’s high payroll costs would just be carried forward.
There were two possible solutions proposed, Kraft said. One was a large
funding supplement to get development programs back on track. Absent
that, senior leaders felt they would have to declare the shuttle a
research vehicle, like the rocket-powered X-15, which had made 13
flights to an altitude as high as 50 miles in the 1960s. “We were going
to have to turn it, really, into a nothing vehicle,” Kraft said. “We
were going to have to give up on the shuttle being a delivery vehicle
into orbit.” Click here.
(7/14)
Eileen Collins to Speak at Trump
Convention (Source: Space Policy Online)
Former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a
space shuttle mission, is slated to speak at the Republican National
Convention in Cleveland next week. Collins, a retired U.S. Air Force
colonel who has publicly criticized the way the Obama administration
canceled NASA’s Constellation return-to-the-moon program, is scheduled
to speak July 20, the day before Donald Trump, the GOP’s presumptive
nominee, is due to give his acceptance speech. (7/14)
Could the Juno Spacecraft Crash Into
Europa? (Source: Mic)
The Juno spacecraft orbiting around Jupiter right now is giving us a
lot of reasons to get excited. But there's one huge worry lurking in
the back of NASA scientists' minds. If something were to go wrong with
the mission, it's possible the spacecraft could crash into and
contaminate one of the most likely places we might find alien life in
the solar system: Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
Scientists have long suspected Europa harbors a massive, subsurface
ocean that might have the right ingredients for life. So the Juno team
has to take extra caution while flying the spacecraft so close to the
potentially life-harboring moon. (7/14)
Did NASA Deliberately Cut a Live Feed
of a UFO? (Source: USA Today)
Is NASA trying to cover up a UFO sighting? Space conspiracy theorists
are accusing NASA of cutting a live stream from the International Space
Station just as an unidentified object comes into view. Theories began
swirling on YouTube earlier this week after YouTube user Streepcap1
posted a video of the stream on July 9.
In the clip, a bright object is seen slowly falling into view, before
the screen flashes that the there are technical problems with the feed.
While Streepcap1 notes that the object may not be alien life, the user
points out that the feed stopping is strange. “This could well be a
meteor or the like,” Streetcap1 says in the caption. “What made it
interesting was the camera cut off when the UFO seemed to stop.”
So, just what is NASA hiding? NASA spokesman Daniel Huot said the live
feed was not deliberately cut. Huot said cameras mounted on the ISS are
controlled automatically. "The station regularly passes out of range of
the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites used to send and receive video,
voice and telemetry from the station," Huot said. "For video, whenever
we lose signal the cameras will show a blue screen or a preset video
slate." (7/14)
Two More Virginia Suborbital Launches
Planned This Year (Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
There will be two more suborbital rocket launches this year from NASA's
Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The facility near
Chincoteague plans to launch a Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding
rocket between 6 and 10 a.m. Aug. 16. Backup launch dates are Aug.
17-19. The date for the other launch was not announced. (7/14)
Small Businesses Discouraged by NASA
Bureaucracy (Source: Satellite Today)
Procurement bureaucracy and Small Business Administration (SBA)
regulations are discouraging small businesses from contracting with
NASA, according to industry executives. Carol Craig, president and CEO
of Craig Technologies in Cape Canaveral, Florida, told a Congressional
House of Representatives panel Tuesday, July 12 that slipping
timelines, unpredictable budgets, lots of paperwork and certification,
and the lack of milestone payments are making smaller businesses look
to other federal agencies for business.
Craig also said NASA makes life difficult for these smaller businesses
by not accommodating other customers. She said NASA might slip a
timeline but not be flexible when another agency’s delivery deadline
coincides with the civil space agency’s new delivery date. (7/14)
U.K. Backs Aerospace R&D Projects,
But Not Replacing EU Funds Yet (Source: Aviation Week)
U.K. government and industry has announced almost £365 million ($480
million) in new commercial aerospace research projects, but the funding
comes from money already committed before the June 23 vote to leave the
European Union (EU) and does not replace funding from European
programs. The funding comes from £3.9 billion that government and
industry have committed jointly to spend on civil aerospace R&D
over 13 years to 2026, through the Aerospace Technology Institute.
(7/15)
Largest-Ever Map of 1.2 Million
Galaxies Measures Dark Energy (Source: New Scientist)
The largest ever 3D map of the universe pinpoints the position of more
than a million galaxies, and has allowed scientists to make one of the
most precise measurements yet of dark energy – the mysterious
unexplained force that is causing the universe to expand at an
accelerating rate.
“Over the last decade we have prepared and conducted the largest survey
of the universe yet,” says Rita Tojeiro at the University of St Andrews
in Scotland, who co-led the international team. “By measuring the
positions of 1.2 million galaxies over one quarter of the sky, we
mapped the three-dimensional structure of the universe over a volume of
650 cubic billion light years. Using this map we were able to make some
of the crispest measurements yet of how dark energy is driving the
expansion of the universe.” Click here.
(7/14)
NASA, USAID Open Environmental
Monitoring Hub in West Africa (Source: NASA)
NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have
opened a new environmental monitoring program in West Africa that will
enhance the role of space-based observations in the management of
climate-sensitive issues facing the world today.
SERVIR-West Africa, based in Niamey, Niger, is one of four NASA-USAID
sponsored centers operating in developing regions of the world. This
SERVIR center is the newest facility for a growing global community of
scientists and decision-makers who are using publicly available data
from space to manage climate-sensitive issues, such as food security,
water resources, land use change and natural disasters. (7/14)
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