Tuesday, June 23. 2009

National Applications Office Closes before it Opens

The controversial Bush administration spy satellite program, the National Applications Office, planned to be part of the Department of Homeland Security is being shut down. Some lawmakers feared it would lead to domestic spying. Local public safety officials said they had more pressing concerns and would have found the program hard to implement. The programs launch was delayed on legal grounds for about two years.

Per the Wall Street Journal:

The program would have provided federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery — but no eavesdropping capabilities— to assist with emergency response and other domestic-security needs, such as identifying where ports or border areas are vulnerable to terrorism.

The decision comes as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's aims to refocus the department's intelligence on ensuring that state and local officials get the threat information they need, according to unnamed officials.

Airborne Radar, Satellite to Watch California's Faults

NASA has already started using airborne radar and will eventually use a new satellite to map California's earthquake faults. The ultimate goal is earthquake prediction.

The work began in February when a small NASA jet outfitted with a radar array left NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. It completed one 3D map and will repeat the trip later this year.

The plan is to map the state four times a year, and in time (from four to 10 years from now) to use data from a NASA satellite taking similar measurements every eighth day.

- Whittier Daily News