{"id":27464,"date":"2026-03-12T16:27:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T20:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&#038;p=27464"},"modified":"2026-03-17T11:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:52:08","slug":"sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/","title":{"rendered":"Sprinting to space: Goddard, NASA, and Clark\u2019s pathbreaking work in geospatial analytics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p>As space enthusiasts prepared to mark the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/goddard\/\">100<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary<\/a> of Clark physicist Robert Goddard\u2019s launch of the first liquid-fueled rocket, geospatial and technical experts from the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), ESRI, Earth Genome, The University of Cambridge, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and other leading universities and companies gathered on campus to discuss how to improve sharing of AI-enhanced geospatial technologies for better assessing how the Earth is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/geospatial-analytics\/\">Clark Center for Geospatial Analytics (CGA)<\/a>, which is affiliated with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/climate-environment-society\/\">School of Climate, Environment, and Society<\/a>, co-organized the March 10-11 technical sprint with Radiant Earth, a Washington-based non-profit that supports initiatives to improve collaboration and access of geospatial data for scientific research. A grant from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navigation.org\/\">The Navigation Fund<\/a> Open Science program supported the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>The timing of the sprint, so close to the March 16 Goddard anniversary, was not lost on Clark CGA Director and Geography Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/faculty\/profiles\/hamed-alemohammad\/\">Hamed Alemohammad<\/a>. Goddard\u2019s pioneering innovation, developed in his Clark laboratory, launched the Space Age, propelling NASA\u2019s rockets and eventually leading to the satellites that collect Earth observation data used in the field of geographic information science (GIS), which Clark helped pioneer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group boxout has-light-teal-background-color has-background is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-12dd3699 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clark-and-nasa\">Clark and NASA<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/clark-research-excellence-recognized-and-rewarded\/\">Meet the faculty and students conducting geospatial research<\/a><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor over 40 years, Clark has been at the forefront of GIS and geospatial analytics, using satellite data to track environmental changes such as shrinking polar ice, coastal flooding, wildfire and drought impacts, and deforestation all over the world,\u201d Alemohammad says. \u201cThese achievements are a direct descendent of and have been possible because of the work of Dr. Goddard and his colleagues in the early 20<sup>th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFast forward to today, and we\u2019re in a data revolution,\u201d he adds. \u201cSatellites are generating more high-quality environmental data than ever before, and AI is now the key to unlocking what that data is telling us. AI is becoming part of nearly every Earth observation problem. It\u2019s almost in every application in remote sensing that you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clark-nasa-and-ibm-a-partnership-that-launched-the-world-s-first-geospatial-ai-foundation-model\">Clark, NASA, and IBM: a partnership that launched the world\u2019s first geospatial AI foundation model\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-3-web-1024x682.avif\" alt=\"Hamed Alemohammad, director of the Clark Center for Geospatial Analytics\" class=\"wp-image-27474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-3-web-1024x682.avif 1024w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-3-web-300x200.avif 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-3-web-768x512.avif 768w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-3-web-1536x1024.avif 1536w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-3-web-1200x800.avif 1200w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-3-web.avif 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hamed Alemohammad, director of the Clark Center for Geospatial Analytics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine that AI would change our work so rapidly.\u201d<\/p><cite>\u2014 hamed alemohammad<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As the former chief data scientist at Radiant Earth, Alemohammad oversaw the launch and development of MLHub (ML for \u201cmachine-learning\u201d), the first open-access repository for geospatial training data and AI models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2023, he has led Clark CGA and its collaboration with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and IBM to develop <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/NASA-IMPACT\/Prithvi-EO-2.0\">Prithvi<\/a> Geospatial Foundation Model, the world\u2019s first geospatial AI foundation model that transforms massive satellite datasets into accurate, actionable insights on how the Earth is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou feed large volumes of satellite data into a foundation model, and the model learns patterns that can then be used for different applications like mapping mangroves, predicting crop yields, or identifying field boundaries,\u201d he says \u201cThis type of models create representations of Earth observation data that are becoming even more informative and can support a wide range of applications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prithvi has garnered global attention and awards. Downloads of the earliest and subsequent versions of Prithvi \u2014 a name chosen from the ancient Sanskrit language for \u201cMother Earth\u201d \u2014 now number over 710,000, and users are actively involved in suggesting improvements to the open-source geospatial AI foundation model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe models are changing rapidly,\u201d Alemohammad says. \u201cEven within the first six months of Prithvi\u2019s release, we saw major changes in capabilities and functionality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-recent-technical-sprint-at-clark-aims-to-develop-global-standards-for-using-geospatial-ai-tool\">Recent technical sprint at Clark aims to develop global standards for using geospatial-AI tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-19-web-1024x682.avif\" alt=\"Recent workshop\" class=\"wp-image-27473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-19-web-1024x682.avif 1024w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-19-web-300x200.avif 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-19-web-768x512.avif 768w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-19-web-1536x1024.avif 1536w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-19-web-1200x800.avif 1200w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-19-web.avif 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-70-web-1024x682.avif\" alt=\"Recent workshop\" class=\"wp-image-27472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-70-web-1024x682.avif 1024w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-70-web-300x200.avif 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-70-web-768x512.avif 768w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-70-web-1536x1024.avif 1536w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-70-web-1200x800.avif 1200w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-70-web.avif 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In the recent technical sprint at Clark, researchers and technical experts addressed an emerging issue in geospatial AI: the need to develop standards and best practices around \u201cembeddings,\u201d or compact data representations produced by AI models that summarize large volumes of satellite imagery into a smaller format. Embeddings are somewhat like ZIP files, which compress data for archiving or transferring over email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs geospatial AI models become more advanced, users will increasingly work with these summarized representations rather than raw imagery. From those embeddings, they will build their applications,\u201d Alemohammad says. \u201cThe challenge is that we don\u2019t have any standard for how we store these embeddings, how we catalog their metadata for enhanced discoverability, or how we make them accessible to people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGiven Radiant Earth\u2019s legacy of bringing the community together around standards and best practices, and Clark CGA\u2019s team working on advancing these foundation models, we thought it made sense to join efforts and convene people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional organizations represented at the sprint included Arizona State University, Asterisk Labs, Development Seed, Element 84, LGND, Wherobots, and the University of Muenster\u2019s Institute for Geoinformatics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe brought developers who are building AI models that generate embeddings, and the end users who are going to consume them, to be in the same room,\u201d Alemohammad says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clark CGA is being contracted by NASA to create tutorials and packages for educators and others who want to learn and share information on how to use the geospatial AI foundation models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clark-to-present-at-nasa-european-space-agency-workshop-partner-with-oak-ridge-national-lab\">Clark to present at NASA-European Space Agency workshop, partner with Oak Ridge National Lab<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>From May 19 to 22, Alemohammad and other Clark CGA team members plan to attend the second workshop on \u201cAI Foundation Model for Earth Observation (EO),\u201d organized by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) at the NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The event is expected to draw up to 350 participants from research institutes, universities, and other organizations. Alemohammad serves on the workshop\u2019s program committee, and Clark researchers will present their latest research in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clark CGA also is collaborating with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the federally funded research and development center&nbsp;in&nbsp;Tennessee, to convene a symposium next fall on campus for developers of GeoAI models \u201cto identify gaps and bottlenecks and lay out recommendations for the community for the next two or three years to advance this technology,\u201d Alemohammad says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As he reflects on his last three years at Clark, Alemohammad says, \u201cI couldn&#8217;t imagine that AI would change our work so rapidly. We knew it was a disruptor, and we knew it was going to come up with novel ways of consuming the data and driving decisions, but the pace, at least for me, was unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going forward, geospatial AI foundation models \u201care helping us consume the data, build better maps, make better forecasts and better projection,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next step for Clark CGA is to increasingly incorporate AI agents into their workflow and build customized AI agents that can be used by \u201canyone around the world with expertise in geospatial, in climate, in remote sensing, to solve problems. The foundation models are enabling these agents to provide better insights for users,\u201d says Alemohammad, who checks in every morning with his AI agent on his computer to perform coding tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s really exciting is that these tools are powering stakeholders to make better decisions in their day-to-day work and on long-term policies around climate mitigation and adaptation,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut this new ecosystem of tools and data requires us to be more agile in our work and development \u2014 to adapt quickly, learn new things, discard the old, and be conscious of their limitations and constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Goddard\u2019s groundbreaking innovation, developed in his Clark laboratory, launched the Space Age, propelling NASA\u2019s rockets and eventually leading to the satellites that collect Earth observation data used in GIS \u2014 a field that Clark helped pioneer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27469,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-blue)","story_headerImg":27469,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[227],"displayed_author":[242],"featured":[494],"topic":[529,131,160,165,133,162,134],"class_list":["post-27464","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","displayed_author-meredith-woodward-king","featured-secondary","topic-climate","topic-climate-change","topic-faculty-research","topic-geography","topic-global","topic-research","topic-school-of-climate-environment-and-society"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sprinting to space: Goddard, NASA, and Clark\u2019s pathbreaking work in geospatial analytics | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sprinting to space: Goddard, NASA, and Clark\u2019s pathbreaking work in geospatial analytics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robert Goddard\u2019s groundbreaking innovation, developed in his Clark laboratory, launched the Space Age, propelling NASA\u2019s rockets and eventually leading to the satellites that collect Earth observation data used in GIS \u2014 a field that Clark helped pioneer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T15:52:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"842\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sprinting to space: Goddard, NASA, and Clark\u2019s pathbreaking work in geospatial analytics | ClarkU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-12T20:27:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T15:52:08+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/12\\\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.avif\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":842,\"caption\":\"People\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/27464#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/27464\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sprinting to space: Goddard, NASA, and Clark\u2019s pathbreaking work in geospatial analytics | ClarkU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sprinting to space: Goddard, NASA, and Clark\u2019s pathbreaking work in geospatial analytics","og_description":"Robert Goddard\u2019s groundbreaking innovation, developed in his Clark laboratory, launched the Space Age, propelling NASA\u2019s rockets and eventually leading to the satellites that collect Earth observation data used in GIS \u2014 a field that Clark helped pioneer.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/","og_site_name":"ClarkU News","article_modified_time":"2026-03-17T15:52:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":842,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/","name":"Sprinting to space: Goddard, NASA, and Clark\u2019s pathbreaking work in geospatial analytics | ClarkU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.avif","datePublished":"2026-03-12T20:27:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-17T15:52:08+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/12\/sprinting-to-space-goddard-nasa-and-clarks-pathbreaking-work-in-geospatial-analytics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web.avif","width":2000,"height":842,"caption":"People"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/27464#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ClarkU News","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/27464"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/","name":"ClarkU News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Embedding_Event_10_MAR_2026-25-web-1024x431.avif","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/27464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/27464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27527,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/27464\/revisions\/27527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27464"},{"taxonomy":"displayed_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed_author?post=27464"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=27464"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=27464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}