The following is an excerpt from an article by Tom Temin of Federal News Network.
Although in most people’s minds NASA is synonymous with space, it also has “aeronautics” in its name. In fact the agency’s mission is remarkably wide. Manned and autonomous space exploration, earth sciences, and helping model commercial airspace are just a few of the domains in which NASA operates.
Underpinning nearly NASA every activity, you’ll find research. For more, Federal News Network spoke with just two of NASA’s leading researchers, both from its renowned Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Dr. Jay Bookbinder is Ames’s associate director for Research and Technology; and Dr. Parimal Kopardekar is the director of the NASA Aeronautics Research Institute, or NARI.
“Ames actually has many core competencies,” Bookbinder said. “We deal with astrobiology, space physics, astrophysics, aeronautics, and exploration Technologies. We are one of the centers that does basic research in a lot of different areas.”
Tackling Government Challenges Through Science and Technology, sponsored by Noblis, is a new Federal News Network podcast series highlighting how field experts are working to solve a mission-related challenge by applying science and technology. From landing people on Mars, to supersonic flight without the boom, to managing safe operation of uncrewed flyers: The fourth episode in this podcast series features NASA Ames research chief and top-flight scientist describing the big challenges and the technologies they’re exploring to meet them. Listen Now >