‘Deepen Bilateral Relations’: Sitharaman Visits NASA’s Goddard Space Centre

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday visited NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland during her official visit to the US.

She was accompanied by the Ambassador of India to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

“Smt @nsitharaman visits the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (@NASAGoddard) in Greenbelt, Maryland during her official visit to the US. The Finance Minister is accompanied by Shri @SandhuTaranjitS, Ambassador of India to the US & senior officials of Government of India,” tweeted Nirmala Sitharaman Office.

She was given presentations about various activities at NASA Goddard by Dr Makenzie Lystrup, Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Ray Rubilotta, Associate Center Director at NASA Goddard and Dr Michelle Thaller, Astrophysicist.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Hyperwall is a video wall capable of displaying multiple high-definition data visualisations and images simultaneously across an arrangement of screens.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Hyperwall is a video wall capable of displaying multiple high-definition data visualisations and images simultaneously across an arrangement of screens.

Recently, NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) received a send-off ceremony at NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, US.

NISAR is an Earth-observation satellite that stands for (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar).

It is Jointly developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation under a partnership agreement signed in 2014.

It will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an unprecedented view of the planet.

NISAR will observe subtle changes in Earth’s surfaces, helping researchers better understand the causes and consequences of such phenomena.

It will spot warning signs of natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides.

The satellite will also measure groundwater levels, track flow rates of glaciers and ice sheets, and monitor the planet’s forest and agricultural regions, which can improve our understanding of carbon exchange.

ISRO will use NISAR for a variety of purposes including agricultural mapping, and monitoring of glaciers in the Himalayas, landslide-prone areas and changes in the coastline.