Media Invited to Meet NASA Administrator at Ames Research Center

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will hear directly from researchers in the field observing a wildfire incident, on their visit to the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Media are invited to join NASA leadership as they tour facilities and hear about current research to assist with wildfire management in California and new technology for managing air traffic aimed at reducing emissions and airline delays. 

The Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations (STEReO) project is designing software and communication tools to give all participants fighting wildfires an overview of operations. The team, along with state and federal partners currently fighting fires in California, will appear live via video from the field to discuss how STEReO’s tools could make wildfire operations safer and more targeted.   

NASA leadership also will get to see a demonstration of new technology the agency developed for air traffic controllers and airlines that will minimize taxi delays and ramp congestion. The new software from the Airspace Technology Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) project will be soon rolled out at airports across the country and will lead to reduced airline emissions and fuel costs while, at the same time, giving travelers more on-time departures. 

This will be the first official visit to Ames by the administrator and deputy administrator.  

The media opportunity will begin at 9 a.m. PDT and, after remarks from Nelson and Melroy, media will have an opportunity to ask questions. 

Media interested in participating must RSVP by 5 p.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 8, to Darryl Waller at darryl.e.waller@nasa.gov. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and space limitations, NASA may be unable to accommodate all requests for attendance. 

NASA’s COVID-19 policies are updated as necessary and to remain consistent with guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and White House Safer Federal Workforce Taskforce. In order to gain access to Ames, members of the media will require a visitor pass authorized by the Ames Office of Communications and must complete a Certification of Vaccination form. Media will be granted access to Ames and proceed with the visitor badging process if: 

·       They have received confirmation from NASA’s Office of Communications 

·       They have certified to being fully vaccinated. 

·       They have certified to being: (1) not fully vaccinated, (2) not vaccinated, or (3) declined to respond AND present written or digital proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within the previous 72 hours. 

Learn more about Ames’ world-class research and development in aeronautics, science, and exploration technology at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/ames