Nasa turns its focus to earth with aid partnership

LONDON: Nasa is using its satellites to solve humanitarian challenges in some of the most fragile places on earth under a landmark partnership with aid agency Mercy Corps. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration will use its wealth of data to help communities at risk from climate change and natural disaster predict the dangers and build their resilience. “There is nothing a Nasa person likes better than answering a really good question,” Nasa’s disasters programme director David Green told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“That is the excitement of working with Mercy Corps, because they are trying to bring solutions to bear anywhere in the world there is stress, and arguably we are looking at the entire world at any given time.” Nasa and Mercy Corps signed a three-year agreement on March 29 that will see them work closely to see how Nasa’s vast data and analysis resources could be applied to help vulnerable people around the world. They say the data can help them predict future events, from changes in grazing land to the likely path of flooding, meaning Mercy Corps can plan ahead to protect communities at risk. — Reuters