The Department of Agriculture and NASA have signed a memorandum of understanding to continue their partnership on multiple initiatives.
The two agencies’ collaborative projects include student outreach programs to promote careers in agriculture and science, technology, engineering and mathematics, USDA said Wednesday.
Since 2015, NASA and USDA have been working together on initiatives such as plant-related studies on the International Space Station. More recently, the federal organizations established programs such as Crop-CASMA, an online resource that contains weekly crop progress report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service to inform farmers’ planting strategies.
Scientists from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and NASA are also designing a plant health monitoring system that uses hyperspectral imaging to support plant growth chambers in space missions.
“From ensuring that future generations are able to reach new heights as they pursue careers in STEM and agriculture, to providing producers with critical data and improving global agricultural practices, USDA is honored to strengthen our partnership with NASA,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack remarked. “We recognize the critical interface between planet-wide food security, climate change, and space, and together we are advancing cutting edge innovation, research, and workforce development to tackle some of Earth’s greatest challenges.”