Nasa Earth Science Work Poised For Revival Under Obama

摘要

With 15 Earth observing spacecraft already in orbit and another 15 proposed for the next decade, NASA is well positoned to support U.S. President Barack Obama's climate change agenda provided he follows through with the necessary funding, according to scientists involved in studying the Earth from space. The Earth sciences community is counting on Obama to deliver the budgets needed to tackle an ambitious set of 15 missions laid out in the National Research Council's 10-year plan for space-based Earth observation, known as the Earth science decadal survey. How much of NASA's proposed $18.7 billion for 2010 will go toward Earth science will not be known until Obama releases his detailed budget plan in April. But the budget blueprint Obama sent to Congress Feb. 26 put climate monitoring at the top of NASA's to-do list.