U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on Friday, November 5 at Goddard Space Flight Center, focusing her speech on climate change and the opportunities space may have to help solve the climate crisis.
“It has literally been decades since a sitting U.S. president or vice president has visited our center,” Center Director Dennis J. Andrucyk wrote in an email that went out to all Goddard employees. “It was surely worth the wait!”
Before her prepared remarks, Harris spoke of driving into the center and practically pushing her nose up against the glass because she was so eager to see Goddard. She toured integration and testing facilities in several buildings, learned about NASA’s partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Geological Survey, saw the first images from the recently launched Landsat 9 spacecraft and heard about some of Goddard’s new and upcoming missions.
Then, in the echoing cavity of Building 29’s Environmental Test Engineering and Integration facility, with pipe-covered ceilings three-stories high, catwalks lining the walls and wires covering every surface, Harris joined Senator Chris Van Hollen and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to speak with a select and masked audience, as well as a larger audience watching NASA TV.
“Climate change is an existential threat and we must take immediate action to address it,” said Harris. “We know our actions cannot be limited to what we can do on Earth.”
Harris emphasized the work of the Goddard Space Flight Center, noting that the technologies developed at the center are working to help combat the climate crisis and provide valuable information about the condition of the Earth to scientists.
Launched in September, Landsat 9 has two instruments – the Operational Land Imager 2 and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2. The sensor was built at Goddard, and measures the heat of the earth’s surfaces from space. The spacecraft helps scientists to separate “human and natural causes of change,” according to NASA’s website.
“These satellites and sensors provide citizens and scientists with the data that they need to mitigate the impact [of climate change] and to adapt to the impact,” said Harris. “These images can be used by scientists who are working to combat climate change head-on.”
In addition to Landsat 9, Harris touched on the AIM Satellite Mission, which ended its work in 2020. Through partnership with NASA, students at Hampton University worked to study the satellite’s information, as it tracked noctilucent clouds – rare clouds usually only visible on clear, summer nights – to see if there was a connection between the clouds and climate change.
“The primary goal of the AIM mission is to help scientists understand whether the clouds’ nature and their variation over time is related to Earth’s changing climate,” according to AIMHamptionU.edu.
As the chair of the National Space Council, Harris will be holding an inaugural meeting on December 1 to discuss space priorities with other leaders. The meeting is the first under the Biden administration.
“Space activity is climate action,” said Harris. “When it comes to our space activity, there is limitless potential. Let us continue to seize the opportunity of space.”
Shannon Clark is a University of Maryland graduate student in journalism reporting for the News Review.