Greta Creech
Headquarters, Washington, DC                   August 9, 1995
(Phone:  202/358-2343)

RELEASE:  95-134

NASA AND CONGRESSMAN KENNEDY ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO AID 
BAY WITH SPACE AGENCY TECHNOLOGY

     NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin and Congressman 
Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) have announced an agreement that 
will enable local businesses to use NASA's remote sensing 
technologies to benefit Narragansett Bay.  This program is 
expected to have positive impacts on the state's fishery, 
tourism and high technology economies.

     The agreement reached by Goldin and Kennedy calls for 
NASA's satellite remote sensing technology to be used to 
provide an integrated view from space of Narragansett Bay and 
its changes over time.  

     The data provided from the program will be analyzed by 
Brown University and provided to local businesses to develop 
new products that are needed to help local industry adapt to 
environmental changes in the Bay.  These environmental 
changes have significant impacts on the local fishery and 
tourism industries, and on the future economic development of 
the area.

     "The NASA of the '90s doesn't just look to the stars," 
said Goldin.  "We have our sights right here on Earth to find 
ways that we can use our ideas and technologies to help this 
country grow.  I am very excited about the opportunity to 
work with Congressman Kennedy and Brown University as we 
continue to move this program forward."

     The idea for the program sprang from a meeting between 
Goldin, Kennedy and Brown faculty in Providence on May 15, 
1995.  Spurred by Kennedy's interest in NASA's Mission to 
Planet Earth program and its remote sensing technology, 
Goldin challenged the Brown faculty to develop a program that 
would enable this technology to benefit Rhode Island 
industry.  His goal was to create a program that would allow 
business, education and state policy makers to work together 
in addressing a local problem.

     "Congressman Kennedy's office and the individuals at 
Brown who developed this program should be commended for 
their innovation in applying space technologies to Rhode 
Island," said Goldin.  "And they should also be commended for 
acting so quickly.  I asked that they get back to me in three 
to six months, and here we are, in less than three months."

     The Rhode Island initiative is not the first joint 
endeavor to apply NASA technology to aid local economic 
development.  Earlier this year, Goldin traveled to 
Scottsdale, AZ, to unveil a new project to use remote sensing 
technology in helping that community plan its future 
infrastructure development.

     "We are committed at NASA to finding ways in which 
space-based technologies can be applied to the challenges we 
have here on Earth," said Goldin.   "Our hope is that the 
work we do through this program in Rhode Island will serve as 
a model for other communities to use NASA technologies to 
address their needs."


                    -end-

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