NASA Looks for Ways to Help Fight Coronavirus Outbreak Written 26 March 2020

Space News reports that “in a virtual town hall meeting March 25, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other agency officials said they’re in discussions with other federal agencies, as well as state and local governments, about how the agency can best contribute to efforts to combat the growing [coronavirus] pandemic.” Bridenstine said, “NASA is involved in providing solution sets for the nation, and we will be more and more involved as days go on because we do have an extremely talented, very bright workforce and a lot of capabilities that can help.” NASA is already “providing access to supercomputers at the Ames Research Center as part of that effort,” but “is examining other ways it can support the overall coronavirus response.” NASA Associate Administrator Steve Jurczyk said, “We’re going to put specific areas where we think we can best contribute, and solicit ideas from anybody across the agency on addressing those challenges and contributing to those areas.” NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer J.D. Polk said about the possibility of making ventilators, “It may not be just in the building of ventilators, but it may be in helping the companies that already build ventilators change their ventilators.”
Full Story (Space News)