NASA Selects Four Missions to Study Earth's Key Focus Areas

Sunday - May 26 2024, 22:39 UTC - 5 months ago

NASA has selected four proposals for concept studies of missions that will focus on key Earth science areas, such as greenhouse gases, the ozone layer, and ocean and ice changes. Each proposal will receive $5 million for a one-year study, after which two will be chosen for future launches with readiness dates expected in 2030 and 2032. NASA's Earth observations have been crucial in our understanding of Earth for over 60 years, and these new missions will contribute to the great Earth observatory that provides us with layers of complementary information.

NASA's Earth System Explorers Program has selected four proposals to conduct concept studies of missions that will focus on key Earth science areas such as greenhouse gases, the ozone layer, ocean surface currents, and changes in ice and glaciers. These proposals have been selected in accordance with the recommendation of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in their 2017 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space.

Each selected proposal will receive $5 million to conduct a one-year mission concept study, after which NASA will choose two proposals to go forward to launch. The chosen investigations are expected to be ready for launch in 2030 and 2032, with a total mission cost cap of $310 million for each proposed mission (excluding the cost of the rocket and access to space, which NASA will provide).

NASA's Earth observations have been crucial in our understanding of our changing planet for over 60 years. With over two dozen Earth-observing satellites and instruments currently in orbit, these new missions will contribute to the great Earth observatory that provides us with layers of complementary information on Earth's oceans, land, ice, and atmosphere.

The four proposals selected for concept studies are: the GeoCarb mission, which will study the biological and chemical signatures of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere...