In 2021, NASA innovation conserved 330 lives in the U.S. network area of the global satellite-aided search and rescue effort, Cospas-Sarsat. NASA has lent technical expertise to the Cospas-Sarsat program considering that its founding, aiding in the rescue of over 48,000 individuals worldwide..
Users purchasing commercially available 406 MHz frequency Cospas-Sarsat beacons have open door to the network, which supplies dependable and accurate emergency situation location services. When users trigger these beacons, they send signals through satellite instruments to ground stations that can calculate their position. The network then signals very first responders to the place and nature of the emergency.
Beacons are readily available in 3 types: Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs), for use by hikers and other explorers; Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), developed for maritime usage; and Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) for air travel. In 2021, 106 saves were PLBs, 195 were EPIRBS, and 29 were ELTs.
In recent years, NASAs Search and Rescue (SAR) office has actually assisted Cospas-Sarsat to improve its network with air travel research studies, next-generation beacon innovation, and new capabilities for Artemis astronauts. The workplace is also dealing with a lunar search and rescue idea, or LunaSAR, as part of NASAs lunar network development effort, LunaNet.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) manages the U.S. network region for Cospas-Sarsat, which relies on flight and ground innovations developed by SAR at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASAs Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program at NASA Headquarters provides strategic oversight to the SAR workplace. Saves are made by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force, and regional rescue authorities.
By Danny Baird, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
January 25, 2022