Earth sciences - Earth observation program 'at risk,' academy warns

This news item discusses how the Earth Observation Program is at risk. Senior U.S. scientists are urging NASA and the Bush Administration to reverse plans to postpone or cancel several satellites designed to gather data on the land, sea, and atmosphere. The National Research Council (NRC) recommend that NASA should proceed with the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission. The spacecraft, with contributions from Japan, would provide important data on Earth's watercycle. The NRC panel also wants NASA to resume work on the 100 million dollarGeostationary Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer that could improve detection of weather changes leading to tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes. In addition, the committee recommends "urgent reconsideration" of a planned cancellation of three other missions: a probe called Ocean Vector Winds to enhance the accuracy of severe storm forecasts, a spacecraft to continue Landsat observations, and the Glory satellite to measure atmospheric aerosols. In a proposed cost-saving move, the committee suggests that the instruments planned for the cancelled missions could be flown instead on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), which is being built for a 2010 launch. Shutting off existing NASA satellites, many earth scientists worry, could mark the start of a U.S. retreat on global data gathering.