Why do we work with NASA?
NASA has long been a partner with NOAA in joint satellite activities. In 2002, NOAA and NASA co-sponsored a workshop at the Kennedy Space Center focused on how Inner/Ocean and Outer Space scientists and technologists may work closer together under the sea. There we met Mike Gernhard, astronaut, diver scientist and engineer. At the time, Mike was President of United Space Alliance, operators of NASA’s space shuttle booster rocket recovery ships, M/V Liberty Star and Freedom Star.
Mike offered use of these ships for support of undersea research off the southeast. NOAA gets use of first class support ships and NASA benefits from shared technology development (such as Eagle Ray).
NASA has an Earth Sciences Division that provides insight into the planet’s health, including the oceans. Their Exploration Program is striving to reach the moon and Mars by 2050. The ocean is providing analogous extreme environments that simulate living in space. So, often I hear ocean scientists and engineers lament the amount of money NASA gets (5 times the NOAA budget); instead we need to join them to serve our mutual earthly objectives.