WASHINGTON — NASA will permit three growing older Earth science missions to take part in an upcoming senior evaluate of prolonged missions even because the company warns of funds pressures on its total portfolio of missions.
Throughout a city corridor Dec. 15 on the Fall Assembly of the American Geophysical Union, NASA officers mentioned they company had invited the Aqua, Aura and Terra missions to submit proposals within the 2023 senior evaluate of Earth science missions which can be of their prolonged phases.
The three spacecraft, launched between 1999 and 2004, stay purposeful however are operating low on stationkeeping propellant. The spacecraft have began to float from their unique operational orbits, which prompted considerations about impacts on the science they will carry out and information continuity.
Julie Robinson, deputy director of NASA’s Earth science division, mentioned the company collected suggestions about these missions by means of a request for data and a digital workshop in November attended by greater than 500 individuals. “One final result of that’s that Terra, Aqua and Aura will likely be invited to the senior evaluate,” she mentioned. In a senior evaluate, missions which have accomplished their unique prime missions make the case for continued funding to increase their missions.
Being invited to the senior evaluate, although, isn’t any assure that the missions will be capable of safe funding. Robinson mentioned the upcoming senior evaluate will likely be notably difficult given restricted funding obtainable for mission extensions.
“The senior evaluate is just not going to be a straightforward one this 12 months,” she mentioned. “We don’t have the cash within the funds to increase each mission that involves the senior evaluate.” The company will ask the panel that critiques the mission to advise it on numerous trades it could possibly make among the many missions.
NASA requested greater than $2.4 billion for Earth science in its fiscal 12 months 2023 funds proposal. Nonetheless, the omnibus spending invoice enacted in late December supplied slightly below $2.2 billion for Earth science. Whereas that is a rise of $130 million from 2022, it comes as NASA is ramping up work on its line of Earth System Observatory missions and different tasks.
On the city corridor, one scientist mentioned it was “fairly surprising” that NASA would even take into account not extending these three missions given their efficiency and the group of researchers utilizing information from them. Robinson once more turned to monetary challenges going through the general Earth science program.
“Within the case of Terra, Aqua and Aura, one of many challenges we have now is that these methods, as a result of they’ve been working so lengthy, they’re actually costly,” she mentioned. NASA’s fiscal 12 months 2023 funds request projected spending $30.7 million every on operations of Terra and Aqua and $20.5 million on Aura. One a part of the senior evaluate will likely be to take a look at decreasing these working prices, however she did provide an estimate of the vary of potential reductions.
These efforts come as NASA grapples with potential value will increase with the Earth System Observatory, notably the Environment Observing System (AOS). An unbiased evaluate discovered that AOS as currently designed is likely to cost $2.4 billion, $500 million more than NASA’s own estimate. That would pressure NASA to cut back or exchange two AOS devices.
“There are actually painful trades in Earth System Observatory. There are additionally painful trades in deciding how a lot cash to placed on prolonged missions and the right way to function them,” she mentioned. “I can promise we’ll by no means make everyone proud of these trades.”
