NASA cancels expensive GeoCarb greenhouse gas monitoring satellite

The space agency has said that it is planning to augment its greenhouse gas observations by prioritising a greenhouse gas mission as the first of its “Earth System Explorers” missions, by obtaining data from its international and commercial partners, conducting additional airborne observations and by extending the operating life of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 instrument on board the ISS, which began operating in 2019 and was expected to run for ten years.

Furthermore, NASA’s “Earth System Observatory” missions, which are slated to launch by the end of the decade, are set to “provide a three-dimensional, holistic view of our planet to help better understand what its changes mean for humanity.”

NASA’s Earth Science Division Director, Karen St. Germain, said that the agency “prioritises understanding how our home planet is changing — and greenhouse gases play a central role in that understanding.

“We are committed to making key methane and carbon dioxide observations, integrating them with measurements collected by other national, international, and private sector missions, and making actionable information available to communities and organisations who need it to inform their decisions.”

READ MORE: Humans could be living on the Moon before the decade is out, NASA says

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1704050/nasa-geocarb-cancelled-greenhouse-gas-monitoring-satellite-cost