AIA | Space Exploration & The National Interest

	Intro
	Truth in Space Budgeting
	The Real Connection
	Space and National Security
	Building International Alliances
	The Global Space Race
	The Mysteries of the Ecosystem
	About AIA
	Photo Credits

Transforming the Mysteries of the Ecosystem

Earth science programs conducted by NASA improve our ability to predict and control atmospheric effects on land, oceans, climate, and air.

U.S. space-based satellites and telescopes document the forces of nature on our world and across the galaxy with more precision than ever in history. Earth-orbiting satellites yield images and information that have gradually improved weather and natural disaster prediction capabilities.

NASA's new Earth Observing System (EOS), among other missions, will begin to provide scientists with a more accurate measurement of airborne carbons over North America, thereby allowing government and industry to cooperate on focused remediation efforts.

In the next decade NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory will expand the EOS mission from North America to the entire globe, supplementing planned CloudSat and CALIPSO initiatives to study the link between cloud structure and aerosol distribution.

A second matrix of NASA observatories and missions concentrates on the ecological impact of the sun and its growing potential as a source of alternative power for farms, homes, and businesses. The agency's solar research will also play a direct role in assessing both the severity and the sources of climate change throughout the world.

NASA discoveries in Earth science ultimately provide us with a critical path to the development of realistic policies for cleaner air and alternative energy resources.