USAID, NASA Officials and Astronauts Discuss Connecting Space to Village

News provided by

Sep 14, 2015, 07:10 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- USAID will host a town hall from 10 to 11 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 17 to discuss its partnership with NASA to use space data to help international development efforts around the world. The event will be held in Washington in the amphitheater of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW.

Through the SERVIR partnership, USAID and NASA use Earth observation information to improve environmental management and resilience to climate change through regional institutions supported by the SERVIR global network.

The event participants are:

Charles Bolden, administrator, NASA
Eric Postel, associate administrator, USAID
Terry Virts, astronaut, NASA
Samantha Cristoforetti, astronaut, ESA (European Space Agency)
Dan Irwin, director, NASA SERVIR Coordination Office
Charles North, senior deputy assistant administrator, USAID
Carrie Stokes, Geospatial Information Technology advisor, USAID

A live webstream of the event will be available on the USAID website at:

http://www.usaid.gov

Reporters interested in attending the event in person can contact Natasha Jackson at 202-712-1647 or [email protected] for more information.

SERVIR is improving awareness, increasing access to information, and supporting analysis to help people in Africa, Hindu Kush-Himalaya, Lower Mekong, and Mesoamerica manage challenges in the areas of food security, water resources, land use change, and natural disasters. With activities in more than 30 countries and counting, SERVIR has already developed over 40 custom tools, collaborated with over 200 institutions, and trained more than 1800 individuals, improving the capacity to develop local solutions.

In addition to satellite data, NASA acquires images and data using the International Space Station's unique Earth-observing capabilities. Astronauts provide images and several instruments mounted to the space station's exterior monitor ocean winds, clouds and pollution. NASA Earth observation information is used every day around the world to improve development decision-making.

More information about the NASA/USAID SERVIR partnership can be found at:

http://www.nasa.gov/servir

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO

SOURCE NASA