nasas changing mission

NASA's changing mission

The New York Times recently reported that NASA made a substantial

change to its mission statement back in February, and that the change

was not widely acknowledged even inside NASA until recently.

The new (2006) mission statement:

"to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery,

and aeronautics research."

The previous (2002) mission statement:

"To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe

and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers

... as only NASA can."

The big deal being made is the loss of reference to Earth science and

protecting the planet. Many, many blogs are crying bloody murder,

going on to criticise the Bush Administration. Almost invariably,

these other blogs fail to mention that "protecting the planet" bit was

put in during Bush's first term. Slate actually criticises the

scientists who complain about the change. There are scientists,

though, who think the change is spot on. Bad Astronomy, which offers a

lot of insight on NASA policies, wrote:

"It's not totally clear why this change was made, though it's

obvious enough that it reflects the shift in NASA policy toward

going back to the Moon, and on to Mars. But why not add that to the

statement, instead of removing references to Earth science? I don't

know, but it's impossible not to wonder about this in light of the

shift away from Earth science."

What's all the fuss about? Who should be criticising whom? For this,

we need some more context.

First up, how did NASA perceive the statement about protecting the

Earth? Here's what Sean O'Keefe, NASA Administrator from 2001-2005,

said on April 12, 2002:

"To understand and protect our home planet: We have come to

understand that the only way to really comprehend our climate and

to protect the scarce resources of our little blue planet is to

look at the Earth as a single, whole system.... From the unique

vantage point of space we can see, and more importantly, predict,

how dust storms in the Sahara will affect crops in the American

Midwest. From the unique vantage point of space we can predict how

mosquito-borne diseases will spread. From the unique vantage point

of space we can tell a farmer what part of her field needs

fertilizer and which part does not.

The mission is to understand and protect our planet. Protection

includes using our scarce resources to improve life on Earth by

living in an environmentally sound manner. NASA's contribution will

be to help collect the data the President has called for to frame

the policy choices we must consider to meet the challenges of

climate change and establish responsible international

environmental standards. Protection of our planet also includes

changing our transportation systems on Earth so that they are

friendly, efficient and environmentally safe.... Protection of our

home planet includes sharing NASA's unique technology and imagery

with other government agencies, academia and industry, to thwart

those who seek to do harm or arrest trends that diminish our

quality of life."

These are laudable goals. As the National Research Council wrote in

2005:

"Understanding the complex, changing planet on which we live, how

it supports life, and how human activities affect its ability to do

so in the future is one of the greatest intellectual challenges

facing humanity. It is also one of the most important for society

as it seeks to achieve prosperity and sustainability."

Ecological Hope sensibly links to a list of accomplishments that

directly stem from the "understand and protect how home planet"

statement. NASA is particularly important in these regards because so

much of the science being done relies on satellites. It is unwise to

divorce NASA's contribution to understanding and protecting the Earth

from the contributions of NOAA, USGS, EPA, and so on.

So was Slate justified in calling scientists' complaints "hollow",

just because the previous mission was only around since 2003? No.

Firstly, because in and of itself, the statement regarding the Earth

is very important (regardless of who first wrote it). Secondly, if we

look at the mission statement prior to 2003, we still see a commitment

to understanding and using science about the Earth. The mission

statement then was:

"To advance and communicate scientific knowledge and understanding

of the earth, the solar system, and the universe.

To advance human exploration, use, and development of space.

To research, develop, verify, and transfer advanced aeronautics and

space technologies."

This new mission, then, fails to acknowledge the important role NASA

plays, and that only NASA can play, in contributing to the

understanding of our planet. This understanding is really quite vital

if we care about dealing with natural disasters and the provision of