NASA
By the year 2020, satellites orbiting the Earth may only have 25 percent of the current observing capacity of today, a report released by the US National Academies' National Research Council (NRC) on Wednesday (May 2) warned. As aging satellite-borne sensors go unreplaced by NASA and other agencies, scientists’ ability to measure a wide range of Earth’s processes, such as retreating ice caps, ocean currents, and weather patterns, will be put at risk. The same will go for an increasing number of life scientists who have been turning to satellites to study biological phenomena from the spread of diseases to how animals interact with their landscapes. (See our February 2012 feature, “Casting a Wide Eye.”)
Significant federal budget cuts and a change in NASA’s priorities ...
