NASA Develops Enhanced Search and Rescue Technologies
Released on May 24, 2010
The Search and Rescue Mission Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, in collaboration with NOAA, Coast Guard, Air Force, and other U.S. agency partners, has developed new technology that will more quickly identify the locations of people in distress and reduce the risk to rescuers. Called the Distress Alerting Satellite System (DASS), this next-generation search and rescue system reduces search times from hours to a few minutes. When it goes online, DASS will be able to almost instantaneously detect and locate distress signals generated by 406 MHz beacons installed on aircraft and vessels or carried by individuals, greatly enhancing the international community's ability to rescue people in distress.