European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 22, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Dark Nasa plans Mission to planet Earth new York times w Hen president bus outlined his vision of America s future in space Early this month Mars an the Moon outshone another initiative the president said was critical to Iho space program a 25-year Ellort using a new network of satellites to understand How the Earth s atmosphere seas and living creatures function As a global system the Enterprise. Mission to planet Earth is envisioned As one of the nation s most encompassing and urgent scientific programs Coliny the United states $15 billion to $30 billion Over 15 to 20 years it would Crealo the first Syslo of unmanned satellites Able to observe and measure the actions of major components of the global environment As they interact. When observations from the new network Are led into computer models they Are expected to provide a More detailed and accurate picture of the Earth s evolving Climac and ecosphere than is possible with the fragmentary measurements from existing satellites and ground stations using a wide array of Remote sensing instruments More than Hall of them of now and More advanced design the system is intended to gather detailed information and measurements about the Earth s climate and weather its land ils crops ils Ocean temperatures and an Routs its forests and All its other biota scores of other satellites mainly those that observe the weather and Many whose main purpose has been to develop the technology of observation and measurement were Iho system s precursors if the Effort succeeds scientists say it will enable them to give much More precise and confident answers about Over arching environmental concerns like the rate and seventy of a global warming thereby aiding policy makers. Ii is being undertaken in cooperation with the european space Agency and with Japan each of which is to place in Orbil a major piece of Iho system. The Enterprise is seen by some As the practical embodiment of the vision of the planet As a Lovely unified sphere that thrilled people everywhere and changed their perceptions when astronauts bound for the Moon first beamed it Back irom space 20 years ago. I consider the program very exciting and very  said Thomas m. Donahue a professor of planetary science and physics at the University of Michigan it s something we must do. The nation and the world must undertake these studies otherwise the planet is in serious  As chairman of the space Board of the National research Council or Donahue headed a study of the nation s space program that last year strongly recommended Mission to Planel Earth the program has the potential to revolutionize global studies said James Hanson a Climaco Loisl at the National aeronautics and space administration s Goddard Institute of space studies in new York who has been deeply involved in the planning of Mission to Planel Earth and who would to a principal investigator this is without doubt Iho largest science program the Agency has Ever undertaken said Shelby Tillord director of Nasa s Earth science and applications division under which the program Falls. We believe it has the potential for More near term meaning than any other science program we might Ever  but Donahue expressed misgivings that Are shared by other scientists. His Mam criticism which he considers fairly  is that the major orbiting platforms of the system would be very Large and would assemble a Broad Range of instruments in one place. But Many of them need different kinds of orbits and altitudes he said. The whole thing would satellites in. Orbit 22.600 Miles above Earth be better and less expensive i think in we had a multitude of instruments on smaller platforms. I think it s still Worth doing if Nasa Sticks to ils present  he said. The present concept is almost certainly not  other scientists fear that the flood of data expected irom the satellites will overwhelm the ability to Analyse in. The main reservation i have Hanson said is that we do not now have the scientific brainpower to Lake advantage of the global  still others say that because the satellite system by itself cannot measure events in the Earth s Core or Mantle thai interact intimately with the land surface seas and atmosphere in making the global system run. It will provide an incomplete picture. The National research Council recommended a parallel investment in new instruments and stations to measure events in the Core and Mantle for integration with the satellite picture. But no financing for such research has been proposed the research Council is the research Armol the National Academy of sciences a private organization thai is the government s chief advisory body on science policy. Despite the reservations the program has drawn Overall support. Without a program Liko Mission to Planel Earth say climatologists it would probably never be possible to understand How the climate in a flawed and imported a Templ to understand How the climate is changing but Iho models do not include Many of the crucial factors that interrelate to make the global system function since Hoy Lack data the Mission is intended to provide they do nol for instance account Lor deep Ocean circulation or Tho amount of ice in the sea. The How patterns of glaciers deforestation the spread of deserts or the Impact of living things irom Plankton to humans for this it is Clear that satellite observations Are essential said Hansen who Heads one of Tho american groups that operate general circulation models of the world s climate. Tuesday August 22, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 13