[imagesource:nasa]

NASA – the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration – is usually associated with matters of space and aliens.

So when we are told that NASA is sending two modified jets to Cape Town in a campaign incorporating airborne imaging spectroscopy, lidar and field observations across South Africa’s lands, we all immediately wonder if the organisation is seeking out extraterrestrial life forms here.

It’s not so far-fetched, what with the conversation around UFOs, sorry UAPs, ringing ever-loudly all around us.

In reality, NASA in conjunction with the University of Cape Town (UCT), is preparing to conduct a first-of-its-kind biodiversity field campaign in the Western Cape’s Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR), including surrounding coastal and marine environments.

DefenceWeb notes that the collaborative campaign, dubbed BioSCape, will see scientists from the US and SA working closely together to map marine, freshwater and terrestrial species and ecosystems within the region.

Nothing extra, they say. But hey, something might just pop out of protea – who knows?

In support of the BioSCape programme, the NASA Gulfstream III and possibly a Gulfstream V will be arriving in the region and will do the hard science yards in just a six-week window period.

The campaign has taken two years to plan, but finally, the jets will fly low level over the west and southern Cape over a period of four to six weeks, collecting ultraviolet, visual and thermal imagery from the GCFR, which contains two Global Biodiversity Hotspots with the richest temperate flora and the third-highest marine endemism in the world.

Up in the air, satellites will gather additional data, while teams on the ground will make observations at locations of particular interest, logging plants and any animals they detect. Ultimately, the campaign will help scientists understand the structure, function and composition of ecosystems in the study area.

Nobody is saying it out loud, but there is a chance that ET is blomming among the dassies and that’s the real reason NASA is coming our way.

[source:defenceweb]