Releases 2007
The Importance of Applying Satellite Technology for the Preservation and Protection of Guatemalan Cultural Sites
Guatemala, December 12, 2007NASA’s Deputy Administrator Ms. Shana Dale will visit Guatemala along with a delegation of eight public officials from NASA including its Space Center, the Division of Earth Sciences, and the Office of Outreach. One of the key visitors is archeologist William Saturno, who discovered the San Bartolo archeological site and is now managing the preservation of the site. NASA is dedicated to help with the preservation and protection of cultural sites in Guatemala.
The visiting delegation to Guatemala will focus part of its time in Guatemala visiting Mayan archeological sites in Peten that NASA satellites helped uncover. Instruments flying on these space-orbiting platforms are capable of penetrating dense vegetation permitting archeologist to discover new sites. These high-resolution pictures also may alert people about potential natural disasters. The Ministry of Agriculture is currently looking for partners to participate in similar activities.
In 1999 and 2000, IDAEH developed research projects in the National Park Tikal and National Park Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo. Two NASA researchers participated in these projects. The use of satellite images allowed timely documentation of damages caused to a vast majority of ancient Mayan pyramids.
People are unaware that one of the most important and interesting jobs that NASA does is focusing on the Earth. NASA is a frontrunner in developing technologies to understand the causes — in addition to helping other organizations favorably respond to – natural disasters.
