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NASA's strategic goal to "advance scientific understanding of the changing Earth system to meet societal needs"
continues the agency's legacy of expanding human knowledge of the Earth through space activities, as mandated by
the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958. Over the past 50 years, NASA has been the world leader in
developing space-based Earth observing systems and capabilities that have fundamentally changed our view of our
planet and have defined Earth system science. The U.S. National Research Council report "Earth Observations from
Space: The First 50 Years of Scientific Achievements" published in 2008 by the National Academy of Sciences
articulates those key achievements and the evolution of the space observing capabilities, looking forward to growing
potential to address Earth science questions and enable an abundance of practical applications. NASA's Earth
science program is an end-to-end one that encompasses the development of observational techniques and the
instrument technology needed to implement them. This includes laboratory testing and demonstration from surface,
airborne, or space-based platforms; research to increase basic process knowledge; incorporation of results into
complex computational models to more fully characterize the present state and future evolution of the Earth system;
and development of partnerships with national and international organizations that can use the generated information
in environmental forecasting and in policy, business, and management decisions. Currently, NASA's Earth Science
Division (ESD) has 14 operating Earth science space missions with 6 in development and 18 under study or in
technology risk reduction. Two Tier 2 Decadal Survey climate-focused missions, Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions
over Nights, Days and Seasons (ASCENDS) and Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), have been
identified in conjunction with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and initiated for launch in the 2019-2020
timeframe. NASA will begin refurbishment of the SAGE III atmospheric chemistry instrument to be hosted by the
International Space Station (ISS) as early as 2013 and will initiate a Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment
(GRACE) Follow-on mission for launch in 2016.
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