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The Earth Observer: Aug -Sep, 1990
In This Issue
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Editor's Corner
Jerry Soffen, EOS Senior Project Scientist
A "NEW START"
As of this writing. NASA is about to be given a "new start" for EOS. To the old, battle-scarred hands, this is magnificent news (for the newer or uninitiated upstarts, this is the commitment that Congress gives to NASA that it will support the Project). The campaign started in 1981 with the Science and Mission Requirements Working Group for Earth Observing System chaired by Dixon Butler; and the Earth System Science Committee chaired by Francis Bretherton was formed. The EOS Project Office was formed by Chuck McKenzie to perform the PhaseA study. In 1988, the Announcement of Opportunity (AO) was issued and Phase B began.
We, the EOS scientists, engineers, and managers, have convinced the nation that our mission is important and sound. We made our case both to the National Academy and to the White House. We were thoroughly examined by internal critics in the agency and external peers in other fields. We assembled our international partners and convinced other government agencies to share in the effort. The Goddard Space Flight Center will build a new building to house the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and the platform has been transferred from the Space Station to the EOS Project.
Now comes the next hardest part-spending the money wisely and assembling the missions for EOS A (EOS B is coming). We have our priorities, we have built·in contingency for technical surprises, and we have an execution plan that has been thoroughly scrutinized. If this makes you feel like a Marathon runner, you have the right feeling. This is not the 50-yard dash and there is no place for the faint-hearted. HERE WE GO!!!
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