NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and Kirk
Johnson, Sant director, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History,
preview NASA’s new Earth Information Center at the museum in Washington on Oct.
7, 2024. The exhibit includes a video wall displaying Earth science data
visualizations and videos, an interpretive panel showing Earth’s connected
systems, information on our changing world, and an overview of how NASA and the
Smithsonian study our home planet.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson joined the director of the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of Natural History in Washington and agency leadership to
unveil the new Earth Information Center exhibit during an early preview on
Monday.
“NASA has studied Earth and our
changing climate for more than 60 years. The Earth Information Center at the
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History will expand access to NASA’s data and our
decades of Earth observation to even more people,” said Nelson. “Together with
the Smithsonian, we are providing detailed, usable, and scalable information to
enable the public to better understand the climate crisis and take action in
their community.”
The exhibit includes a
32-foot-long, 12-foot-high video wall displaying Earth science data
visualizations and videos, interpretive panels showing Earth’s connected
systems, information on our changing world, and an overview of how NASA and the
Smithsonian study our home planet. It opens to the public Tuesday, Oct.
8.
“The new Earth Information Center
at the National Museum of Natural History will bring Smithsonian and NASA data
on the Earth’s environment and climate to thousands of museum visitors every
year,” said Kirk Johnson, the museum’s Sant director. “It is an honor to
partner with NASA to bring this dynamic view of Earth to museumgoers and
connect people more deeply with their home planet.”
Visitors also can explore Earth
observing missions, changes in Earth’s landscape over time, and how climate is
expected to change regionally through multiple interactive experiences. The
exhibit will remain on display through 2028.
“The Earth Information Center
allows people to see our planet as we at NASA see it – an awe-inspiring and
complex system of oceans, land, ice, atmosphere, and the life they support,”
said Karen St. Germain, division director, Earth Sciences Division at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. “We are thrilled that this collaboration puts
NASA’s Earth science at the fingertips of Smithsonian visitors for the benefit
of all.”
With more than two dozen missions
in orbit, NASA observes our planet’s oceans, land, ice, and atmosphere, and
measure how a change in one drives change in others. NASA develops new ways to
build long-term data records of how our planet evolves. The agency freely
shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world.
As part of NASA’s ongoing mission
to better understand our home planet, NASA created the Earth Information Center
which draws insights from across all NASA centers and its federal partners –
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development,
Environmental Protection Agency, and Federal Emergency Management
Administration. It allows viewers to see how our home planet is changing and
gives decision makers information to develop the tools they need to mitigate,
adapt, and respond to those changes.
NASA’s Earth Information Center is
a virtual and physical space designed to aid people to make informed decisions
on Earth’s environment and climate. It provides easily accessible Earth
information, enabling global understanding of our changing planet.
The expansion of the physical Earth
Information Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History makes
it the second location in the Washington area. The first is located at NASA Headquarters in Washington at 300 E St., SW.
To learn more about the Earth Information Center, visit: https://earth.gov
Source: NASA, Smithsonian Open New Exhibit to Showcase Our Dynamic Earth - NASA
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