Lewis and Clark trekked through rivers and mountains to map the best land and water routes from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean that opened the west for growth and economic development. Nearly 200 years later, the same work could be done in a fraction of the time by one person sitting at a computer beneath the St. Louis Arch that memorializes that westward expansion. By utilizing satellites and other space technologies.
Satellite images can map the area and satellite navigation signals can help show the best route.
By turning toward earth the satellites we send into the darkness of space, we provide information that can create infrastructure and improve lives of people around the world. And let's be blunt. By extending space applications to solve problems in developing nations, the United States can win friends around the globe. Space has the potential to be the technological Peace Corps of the 21st Century. To promote the application of space technologies to problems in countries around the world, the United States Space Foundation and NASA hosted a conference in April with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.