NASA Administrator to travel to India; Discuss Space Cooperation

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is scheduled to visit India and the UAE starting Monday for meetings with key government officials and space agencies.
Nelson’s visit to India is in fulfillment of a commitment under the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, spearheaded by President Joe Biden.

The purpose is to enhance bilateral cooperation in various innovation and research domains, particularly in human exploration and Earth science.

During his visit to India, Nelson will tour various sites, including Bengaluru-based facilities where the NISAR spacecraft is undergoing testing and integration. NISAR, short for NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, is a collaborative Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scheduled for launch in 2024.

NISAR represents a groundbreaking collaboration between NASA and ISRO, marking the first instance of joint hardware development for an Earth-observing mission by the two space agencies.

NISAR, as the pioneering satellite mission between NASA and ISRO, stands as a groundbreaking Earth-observing instrument within the Earth System Observatory. It is designed to measure alterations in Earth’s ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses. NISAR’s capabilities extend to providing crucial insights into biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater. The data it generates plays a vital role in informing initiatives related to climate change, hazard mitigation, agriculture, and various other fields.

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