Dr. Roger King, chief engineer for the Mississippi State University’s (MSU) Remote Sensing Technologies Center (RSTC) and director of the MSU Computational Geospatial Technologies Center, has accepted a year-long assignment with NASA as the chief technologist for Earth Science Applications.

“Finding practical applications for emerging remote sensing technology is something I have been doing at MSU for several years. NASA was looking for someone with a broad overview of remote sensing to help focus its activities in areas that are important to the nation’s economy and security,” King said.

For his NASA position, King will visit NASA facilities nationwide to collect information and recommend applications for utilizing remote sensing technology for many national needs. These include forecasting short-term energy needs, aviation safety and natural disaster preparedness. During his tenure at the RSTC, King has focused on applying new remote sensing technologies into many of these same disciplines.

MSU interim president Charles Lee said King’s assignment will be beneficial to both the university and NASA.

King will be relocated to Washington D.C. to work at NASA headquarters, but he will continue to teach an MSU course on remote sensing through RSTC. King will focus part of his time to teach in person, but when he cannot be on campus he will utilize MSU’s distance-learning facilities. This will also provide students and faculty at RSTC with a unique opportunity to gain insight into the directions that NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise will be taking in the future.