[NASA] NASA Invites Media to Observe FireSense Prescribed Burn at Kennedy

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Drone pilot Brayden Chamberlain flashes a “good to go” signal to the command tent, indicating that the NASA Alta X quadcopter is prepped for takeoff during a FireSense uncrewed aerial system (UAS) Technology Demonstration test in 2023 in Missoula, Montana. The instruments on board collected data on wind speed and direction, humidity, temperature, and pressure.

NASA/Milan Loiacono

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida invites media to attend a prescribed fire campaign event hosted by the NASA FireSense Project, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Campaign activities will occur from Monday, April 7, to Monday, April 21.

The FireSense campaign activities will test cutting-edge models and demonstrate new technologies to measure fire behavior and smoke dynamics. The Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct the prescribed fire as part of their land management responsibilities on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with NASA Kennedy.

The event also will demonstrate how NASA, DOD, and the Fish and Wildlife Service work with interagency and private sector partners to reduce the risk from wildland fires and benefit ecosystem health, ultimately preventing catastrophic impacts on critical national infrastructure, the economy, and local communities, while increasing the safety of wildland fire response operations.

Credentialing is open to U.S. and international media. International media must apply by 11:59 EDT p.m. Sunday, March 16, and U.S. media must apply by 11:59 p.m. EDT Sunday, March 23.

More details on the specific date of the prescribed fire, weather permitting, will be provided in the coming weeks. Media wishing to take part in person must apply for credentials at:

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Credentialed media will receive a confirmation email upon approval. NASA’s media accreditation

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is available online. For questions about accreditation or to request special logistical support, please email by Friday, March 28 to: ksc*****@*****.tld.

For other questions, please contact NASA Kennedy’s newsroom at: 321-867-2468.

Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese **** Messod Bendayan, *****@*****.tld.

NASA coordinates field and airborne sampling with academic and agency partners, including the DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program and DOD Environmental Security Technology Certification Program. The Fish and Wildlife Service oversees all prescribed burn activities on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

NASA Kennedy is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the United States, counting over 1,000 species of plants, 117 kinds of fish, 68 types of amphibians and reptiles, 330 kinds of birds, and 31 different mammals within its more than 144,000 acres.

For more information about NASA’s FireSense Project, please visit:

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-end-

Milan Loiacono
Ames Research Center, California
650-450-7575
milan.p*****@*****.tld

Harrison Raine
Ames Research Center, California
310-924-0030
*****@*****.tld

Messod Bendayan
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
256-930-1371
*****@*****.tld

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