Jul 14 2016

From The Space Library

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Current revision

RELEASE 16-070 NASA, USAID Open Environmental Monitoring Hub in West Africa

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.

"NASA is deeply committed to Earth science and the value it provides people around the globe. I’m proud to say SERVIR is now serving more than 40 countries," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who took part in the facility’s official opening Thursday. "Together with USAID, we are continuing the effort to bring space-based science down to Earth for real time, real world uses that are changing people’s lives where they live."

Teams of scientists at SERVIR-West Africa will draw on a continuous stream of space-based climate, weather and other data from NASA’s constellation of Earth observing satellites, sharing timely information with policy makers, government agencies and other stakeholders in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Niger to address critical regional issues, such as food security and fresh water availability.

“There is an immediate demand to connect available science and technology to development solutions in West Africa,” said Alex Deprez, director of USAID’s West Africa regional office. “SERVIR-West Africa will engage scientists across the region to partner with each other to address the greatest challenges in the region. What we seek in the long term are African solutions to African problems.”

SERVIR-West Africa will be funded by USAID and NASA and implemented by a subsidiary of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the Agriculture, Hydrology and Meteorology (AGRHYMET) Regional Center, headquartered in Niamey. This center will implement this program together with a consortium of West African partners serving the region with support from Tetra Tech Incorporated, headquartered in Pasadena, California.

SERVIR’s global network of leading regional knowledge centers also includes the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development in Nairobi, Kenya, serving eastern and southern Africa; the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, Nepal, serving the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya region; the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Bangkok, Thailand, serving the lower Mekong region of Southeast Asia; and other partners dedicated to environmental management through the integration of Earth observations and geospatial technologies.

SERVIR is a joint NASA-USAID development initiative that operates internationally in partnership with leading regional organizations to help train developing countries in the use of data from space to become better stewards of the planet and its resources, while also meeting the societal needs. Programs in each region focus on issues and needs most critical to their local populations.

A global collaboration network is fundamental to SERVIR’s success. Beyond the sponsorship and active participation of NASA and USAID, collaboration spans a number of other U.S. government agencies and projects, as well as partnerships with government agencies in the regions in which SERVIR operates, joint research with universities and non-governmental organizations, and capacity building with a host of specialized groups.

SERVIR was developed in coordination with the Group on Earth Observations, an alliance of more than 100 nations and organizations collaborating to build a global Earth-observing system to benefit society's needs. Named for a Spanish term meaning "to serve," the program was initiated in 2005 by researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, which continues to house the SERVIR Science Coordination Office.

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

MEDIA ADVISORY M16-085 Next Space Station Cargo Launch From Virginia Targeted for August, NASA Opens Media Accreditation

Media accreditation now is open for the launch of the next Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Orbital ATK is targeting no earlier than Aug. 22 for the lift off of its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A at Wallops. The spacecraft will carry crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbiting laboratory to support the Expedition 48 and 49 crews.

International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by Aug. 1 for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities at Wallops. The application deadline is Aug. 17 for media who are U.S. citizens. Media should send their accreditation request to Keith Koehler at keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov. For questions about accreditation or additional information, contact Koehler by email or at 757-824-1579.

This will be the sixth cargo resupply mission by Orbital ATK under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. Cargo resupply by U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations using the only microgravity laboratory.

MEDIA ADVISORY M16-086 NASA to Discuss Next Mars Rover on Facebook Live

NASA will host a Facebook Live event at 1 p.m. EDT Friday, July 15, to talk about the science and technology aboard NASA's next Mars rover, Mars 2020, and the significant step the agency is taking on its Journey to Mars, proceeding with final design and construction of the robotic explorer.

During the event, viewers will get a glimpse of the Mars Yard and rock drilling facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and can ask questions during the program via Facebook. Media can submit questions by email at hq-social@nasa.gov.

Participants will be:

• Kenneth Farley, Mars 2020 project scientist at Caltech in Pasadena
• Matt Robinson, Mars 2020 sampling and caching team deputy manager at JPL
• Allen Chen, Mars 2020 entry, descent and landing lead at JPL

The event can be viewed live on NASA's Facebook page.