CONTACT: Patricia Viets FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/4/96
An international satellite search and rescue program that saves pilots, mariners and hikers in distress has been honored for outstanding use of information technology that transforms society.
The international Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking program known as COSPAS-SARSAT today received honorable mention as a top-five finalist for a 1996 ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award. These awards are given to organizations using information technology to improve society. The COSPAS-SARSAT program, which competed in the Government and Non-Profit Organizations category, is operated in the United States by the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"In my 42 years of government service, both military and civilian, this is the most rewarding program I have ever been associated with. Since the inception of the program 13 years ago, more than 5440 people throughout the world have been rescued," said James T. Bailey, SARSAT program manager.
"The COSPAS-SARSAT program represents true pioneers who are developing the technologies that will shape the future of our society in the Information Age," said David K. Allison of the Smithsonian.
The COSPAS-SARSAT system uses satellite, telecommunications and automated data processing technologies to facilitate global search and rescue operations, saving lives among aviators and mariners by detecting distress signals within minutes anywhere on earth.
Note to Editors:
The U.S. Mission Control Center is located in Suitland, Md., in Federal Building #4. Reporters who wish to visit the facility and/or interview the chief of SARSAT operations should contact Patricia Viets at 301-457-5005.
Information about COSPAS-SARSAT can be found on the Internet at: http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/SARSAT/homepage.html Acronyms: COSPAS -- Cosmicheskaya Systyema Poiska Avarynich Sudov (translated from the Russian language means "Space System for the Search and Rescue of Vessels in Distress") SARSAT -- Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking ### All NOAA press releases, and links to other NOAA material, can be found on the NOAA Public Affairs World Wide Web home page, http://www.noaa.gov/public-affairs . If you'd like to receive these releases by electronic mail rather than fax, please send an e-mail to: jslaff@rdc.noaa.gov