While NASA’s satellites are most commonly used to observe distant stars and faraway planets, the space organization’s new program will be looking at something a little closer to home – local farmers’ crops.
KSBW reports NASA is in the planning stages of forming a new initiative that will help Californian farmers determine which of their crops need to be watered. Satellite images would be provided on a weekly basis through the California Department of Water.
Recent droughts have cost farmers in the state millions of dollars, and many are eagerly anticipating the new program. “[NASA's initiative] would be big. Placement of the water is better, and in return, you might use even more water, but you yield more crop,” Joe Tonascia, a farmer from Hollister, California, told KSBW.
NASA has yet to finalize a launch date or payment program for the new system.
Meanwhile, another one of NASA’s satellites, WISE, recently completed its first survey, reports Popular Science. WISE takes pictures of the galaxy every 11 seconds, and it has observed several thousand previously undiscovered asteroids to date.
3 Responses to “NASA to help local farmers manage crops”
This is weird to me. I mean, farmers have been farming for thousands of years without the help of NASA. Seems kind of like a waste of time and money.
I wonder how much this will cost. No payment program is in place yet… It seems pretty basic, but I’d be interested to learn the numbers.
How does a farmer not know when to water their crops? ummm…