dirtylinder, if you must believe everything that you read, for goodness sakes don't read the Tin Hat Times.
In a New York Times Op-Ed piece, Robert L. Park reports on the quiet cancelation by NASA of an Earth observing satellite called the Deep Space Climate Observatory, also called Triana. Positioned at the L1 Lagrange point, it would have had a continuous view of the full Earth and carried instruments to monitor the planet's energy balance, contributing to our understanding of global warming. Although "competing priorities" were cited, Dr. Park also points out that a better understanding of global warming is not exactly one of the Bush administration's highest priorities.
There are other Earth monitoring satellites, and I know there are other priorities for NASA and the US government. But it really seems unfortunate that this relatively low cost spacecraft (which has been ready for launch since 2001) will not be used for this important mission.
Well, this is a nugget. But this: http://oig.nasa.gov/old/inspections_assessments/Nethercutt.pdf is the dirt.
Then there's good old Wikepedia, "Derided by critics as being an unfocused project, the satellite was nicknamed GoreSat, and was often referred to as an "overpriced screen saver" by Republicans. Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences whether the project was worthwhile. The resulting report stated that the mission was "strong and vital.
"Faced with political hostility on one side and scientific support on the other, Triana could neither be launched nor could it be terminated. Triana was removed from its original launch opportunity on STS-107 (the ill-fated Columbia disaster mission). The $100 million satellite remains in storage at a cost of $1 million a year."
In a New York Times Op-Ed piece, Robert L. Park reports on the quiet cancelation by NASA of an Earth observing satellite called the Deep Space Climate Observatory, also called Triana. Positioned at the L1 Lagrange point, it would have had a continuous view of the full Earth and carried instruments to monitor the planet's energy balance, contributing to our understanding of global warming. Although "competing priorities" were cited, Dr. Park also points out that a better understanding of global warming is not exactly one of the Bush administration's highest priorities.
There are other Earth monitoring satellites, and I know there are other priorities for NASA and the US government. But it really seems unfortunate that this relatively low cost spacecraft (which has been ready for launch since 2001) will not be used for this important mission.
Well, this is a nugget. But this: http://oig.nasa.gov/old/inspections_assessments/Nethercutt.pdf is the dirt.
Then there's good old Wikepedia, "Derided by critics as being an unfocused project, the satellite was nicknamed GoreSat, and was often referred to as an "overpriced screen saver" by Republicans. Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences whether the project was worthwhile. The resulting report stated that the mission was "strong and vital.
"Faced with political hostility on one side and scientific support on the other, Triana could neither be launched nor could it be terminated. Triana was removed from its original launch opportunity on STS-107 (the ill-fated Columbia disaster mission). The $100 million satellite remains in storage at a cost of $1 million a year."