Bridenstine: NASA Monitoring Potential Impacts of Coronavirus Written 12 March 2020
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks during a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, 19 January 2020. | Associated Press–©
SPACE reports that NASA is monitoring the possibility of additional impacts “the new coronavirus may have on the U.S. space program after one of the agency’s research centers had to send employees home this week after a case, according to the agency’s chief Jim Bridenstine.” In a Monday statement following the positive test of an employee at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Bridenstine said, “As the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation evolves, we’ll continue to closely monitor and coordinate with federal, state, and community officials to take any further appropriate steps to help safeguard the NASA family.” Bridenstine also indicated that some NASA projects have suspended field activity. Bridenstine said that the DeltaX, Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere (DCOTTS), and Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) have “rescheduled their field activity until later in the year.” He added, “The scientific returns of these projects are not expected to be impacted by this change of plans.”
Full Story (SPACE)