Academy Award®- winning actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio visited NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland on Saturday, April 23, 2016.

During his visit, Mr. DiCaprio interviewed Dr. Piers Sellers, an Earth scientist, former astronaut and current deputy director of Goddard’s Sciences and Exploration Directorate. The two discussed the different missions NASA has underway to study changes in the Earth’s atmosphere, water and land masses for a climate change documentary that Mr. DiCaprio has in production.

Using a wall-size, high-definition display system that shows visual representations based on actual science data, Mr. DiCaprio and Dr. Sellers discussed data results from NASA’s fleet of satellites in Earth’s orbit. The background image showing global sea surface circulation colored by temperature where reds are warm areas (32 degrees Celsius) and blues are cold regions (0 degrees Celsius). The data used for this visual is a joint MIT/JPL project called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II (ECCO2). For more info on this visual, svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=3912

During his visit, Mr. DiCaprio also visited the facility holding NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that is being developed as a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. The telescope will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana in October of 2018, and will be a premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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