The Bush Manned Space Program Guts Environmental Research from Space

The Blue Marble from Appolo 17

Read "Cutbacks Impede Climate Studies: U.S. Earth Programs In Peril, Panel Finds" by Marc Kaufman in The Washington Post, January 16, 2007.
Lead paragraphs:

The government's ability to understand and predict hurricanes, drought and climate changes of all kinds is in danger because of deep cuts facing many Earth satellite programs and major delays in launching some of its most important new instruments, a panel of experts has concluded.

The two-year study by the National Academy of Sciences, released yesterday, determined that NASA's earth science budget has declined 30 percent since 2000. It stands to fall further as funding shifts to plans for a manned mission to the moon and Mars. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, meanwhile, has experienced enormous cost overruns and schedule delays with its premier weather and climate mission.

Read the full study from the National Academies: Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond

Summary of the study:

Half of the country's environmental satellites will stop working by 2010, which could lead to a loss of data used to study climate change, predict natural disasters, and monitor land use. NASA and NOAA should secure long-term funding to maintain existing and previously planned satellite missions and to undertake a set of 17 new missions between 2010 and 2020, says a new National Research Council report

Comment: I understand that the acronym TTIA stands for Title Tells It All. JAD