Researchers continue to have concerns about NASA's blueprint for a new generation of Earth-observing missions. Echoing earlier reviews, a National Research Council (NRC) panel last week said that although the space agency is on the right track with plans to launch a new group of smaller, cheaper, and more sophisticated probes starting in 2003, NASA still needs a science strategy to make sure it gets the most out of its orbiting fleet, which will monitor everything from land uses to ocean temperatures.
The NRC group, led by atmospheric scientist Marvin Geller of the State University of New York, Stony Brook, also warned the agency against relying on a proposed polar orbiting satellite system to collect long-term climate data after an array of current instruments expire early next decade. "There is skepticism about putting all the eggs in that basket," says one academic. NASA earth science chief Ghassem Asrar was unavailable for comment, but one colleague predicts he "will be able to live with these recommendations."
