Congress to NASA: Study Space! (Not Climate. That’s Not Space.)
Members of Congress are asking something novel of NASA: to actually study space, not global warming. Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL), Sandy Adams (R-FL), Rob Bishop (R-UT) and others have sent a letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) asking for NASA to launch their efforts in a new direction — the old one.
For many years, NASA has been spending vast sums of money to study global warming, despite the efforts already undertaken at other federal agencies where such research is more appropriate. The letter asks that NASA refocus on what it was created to do, which is to maintain and develop our space program.
The amount of money being spent to study global warming, as a percentage of NASA’s budget, is startling — especially when one considers this is not part of NASA’s original mission. In budget year 2010, NASA spent 7.5% of its funding — over $1B — to study global warming. On top of that — the vast majority of federal stimulus money given to NASA in 2010 was spent on studying global warming.
As a whole, the U.S. federal government has spent $8.7 billion dollars on global warming studies — just in the past year! Many of the sixteen separate agencies doing this work were performing redundant research. In a time of federal spending cuts that are sure to come, much of this redundancy certainly can and must be eliminated, saving taxpayers billions. Certainly NASA should be one of the first to see funding drastically cut, or eliminated entirely, in this area.
The principal arm of global warming research for NASA is the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). That’s “Space” Studies, not climate. The Institute is located in New York City on the campus of Columbia University. The homepage of GISS states:
Research at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) emphasizes a broad study of global change.
No mention of anything to do with space exploration. How odd. The overview continues:
… which is an interdisciplinary initiative addressing natural and man-made changes in our environment that occur on various time scales — from one-time forcings such as volcanic explosions, to seasonal and annual effects such as El Niño, and on up to the millennia of ice ages — and that affect the habitability of our planet.
Under the section titled “More Research News & Features,” there are seven different news items, all dealing with global warming. Nothing about space or manned space missions or anything at all up there. It’s as if GISS has launched itself into an entirely different orbit, unrelated to its founding documents. The Goddard Institute for Climate Studies would be a much more accurate representation, though I think Dr. Robert Goddard would be surprised to learn how much influence he must have had in the field of climate research, rather than in developing liquid fueled rockets.
This is exactly the kind of waste in government that needs to be immediately eliminated. This is not part of NASA’s charter, and it is not the purpose of a federal agency. There is no reason on this earth to be supporting the dishonest work of GISS and James Hansen. Eliminate the budget and send them all packing. Waiting until tomorrow to make this effective is waiting too long.
“Not only is GISS studying global warming, they are actually creating it!”
There was alot of money in HPC sales in the 90′s. Gotta justify it somehow.
When someone pays for something they expect to get what they pay for. The government is paying for AGW. Surprise, look what they get! After all, what’s a degree here and a degree there as long as the money keeps rolling in?
I am not American therefore I am not going to say much. Just that there are too much overlap in the climate side of things in the US and similar activities and studies are being made with double (or triple) the cost. Consolidate or enforce the mandate. Seems simple.
NASA’s new slogan: “Political correctness — the final frontier.”
NASA should start by firing the head of GISS, Jimbo Hansen. He was a scientist but has turned apocolyptic activist. He engages in illegal protests, calls for fossil fuel CEOs to be tried for crimes against Gaia, claims NY city will soon be underwater, etc.
NASA has been home to magnificent advancements and achievements during the seconf half of the 20th century.
But in the late 1980s a malignant life threatening virus hit NASA: atheism-progressivism. NASA became a hotbet of activist scientists with an agenda: to discredit religion and advance leftist causes.
The religious put down was hidden behind multi-billion dollar searches for “life out there”, so that (a) the uniqueness of Life on this Earth could be knocked down, and (b) the notion of God could be (in their eyes and those of the willing) diminished. NASA insiders knew fully well that these searches would lead to no-where (they know what Fermi said about it), but they wanted to push ror the Hollywood and sci fi tale of ET and Aliens.
The progressive social agenda has been far more obvious, spending humdreds of billions of dollars on the AGW and ‘climate change’ myth.
It’s high time human space exploration, national security issues, monitoring and defending the Earth from asteroids and other space-related threats, and in effect for what it was initially its mission.
One good reason for NASA to stop with the climate monitoring:
We’re broke.
NOAA, which does have weather and climate monitoring satellites, should handle the entire load.
OTOH: a concerted space-based climate study is likely to discredit at least the alarmists, and perhaps even the whole global warming theory.
Unfortunately, the NOAA is also in the pocket of the AGW advocates. Last year the Obama administration increased their budget, payback for AGW alarmism.
Just another example of the righ-wing trying to ignore the truth.
And exactly what truth would that be? That we can’t afford $1B being spent on redundant research that should be conducted by NOAA? You know, that already existing federal agency that is actually chartered to study the environment?
What truth? How do you find truth when source data is being manipulated in support of a predetermined conclusion? If you can’t see that you’re being duped, Joseph, there’s no help for you.
Results oriented science at its finest. We get what we pay for. Just depends who is writing the checks.
Let’s just hope that Congress finds it actually has the power to force James Hansen and his GISS collaborators to either do the job for which they were hired, or seek employment elsewhere. Let them try to find a job in private industry, or better yet, push a grocery cart around and live in a cardboard box.
With you last suggestion, they would be rooting for global warming, and not getting it.
There is nothing humans can do regarding the climate, and any chemical engineer would know that carbon dioxide has no role of significance in the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere.
Fire the flim-flam people, as they have effectively stolen huge sums of taxpayer money with their scam, and prosecute them and bring them to justice.
You are missing the most salient point: it is a primary objective of the Progressive Socialists to get the government or the taxpayer to pick up the tab for their propaganda efforts, a strategy that they have been adept at and successful at hiding, at least until recently; although it has been obvious to the inquisitive mind.
Using NASA to promote one of their pet projects that is calibrated to cripple both our industrial base and economy is a great coup that carries clout to the simple minded and Useful Idiot types who follow the Progressive Socialist Agenda so faithfully.
Yo, Skookum! How’re they hangin’?
Here’s a twist you might enjoy: Obama’s plan is Enron’s plan.
Thieves of a feather think alike.
Just think, if all that duplicated effort in climate temperature measurement funds had been spent on going to the moon, Americans would now be living on a zero, zilch, no climate change heavenly body–and using an almost zero carbon energy source for living at station Environmental Luna Nirvana, the gateway to Mars. But no, we’re going to the future, building bullet trains between LA and Las Vegas to better play black jack at the big casinos—or is it Bakersfield to the California State Prison in Corcoran? The goal posts, like the historical climate temperature records, do keep getting changed, but at least California will be able to move a few of its prisoners around at greater speed on new high energy consuming trains paid for by all 49 states, and Puerto Rico, and Guam, and maybe even the District of Columbia. And why the costly redundant temperature measurements? ‘Cause no matter what the temperature does, when it gets colder or hotter or stays the same, it always proves global climate warming. It’s a new computer generated science that can’t be falsified by empirical methods.
I’m really confused. It is my understanding that NASA’s foremost priority was Muslim outreach, and some fool thinks NASA should study space and space travel!! Before you know it you “Pubs” will think it necessary to cease borrowing and spending!! Fools!
Technically speaking, Global Warming per se is the purview of NOAA, not NASA. NASA’s jobs are: 1) The development of advanced technologies and other research to support the aeronautical and aerospace industries and 2) space exploration. NASA tends to get sucked into these things because it has the satellite expertise, but it’s not their proper job.
let’s call this whole sorry episode what it is. the bright star that made all Americans proud and filled with accomplishments has to be brought low, shamed if you will. fetch and tote for muslims. this is all just part of this illegal aliens plans to bring America to its knees. he hates everything that we stand for. it marvels me at just what Americans will take from this illegal bunch of communists.
the cause: creation of categories of people due special favors, handouts from government. vote for me and i will give you ….
that was the beginning of the end for the America we knew and loved.
NASA hasn’t enough ‘space’ work to do and was likely kept afloat by being awarded billions to study ozone holes and climate change (and now Muslim outreach – thanks for reminder on that one, ha). They’ve kept the tap flowing by riding the “controversies” for all they’re worth. Climate change is political science which is not constrained by the rules of real science.
Exactly. NASA has become just another bloated govt. bureaucracy, desperately searching for something — anything — to keep the gravy train running. The space shuttle and the Intl. Space Station are a perfect example of this. The two are in a symbiotic relationship — the shuttle exists to ferry stuff to the ISS, while the ISS exists to give the shuttle something to do.
I’m not an American, so perhaps its not my business to question why you do the things you do, but it beggars belief that you would be wasting $US8.7 billion in one year, on Global Warming Garbage, at a time when your country is essentially bankrupt.
How much longer do you think you can keep this up?
James
Melbourne, OZ
Since you are not an American, let me explain. It’s called politics. The Obama Administration and the Democrats needed additional proof to convince the American tax payers that cap and trade and other anti-carbon fuel energy legislation was necessary or we would all drown by the rising ocean levels. Americans and businesses would end up paying trillions in penalties and new taxes to reduce carbon emissions. The $8.7 billion is a small price to pay for trillions in payback, in the eyes of the leftists (including greens).
James, you might find it interesting to delve into your own government’s propensity for squandering tax receipts. I have no information on your government, however, what I have seen in Europe leads me to conclude that squandering money is a governments main pastime. I would hope yours is the exception. Good Luck.
Yes, I have read the comments. I agree with most if not all. Nasa needs to get back to space investigation, because of astroids and large meteorites that can hit our planet. We have the technology to have deep space radar to find an object that is a threat to our planet. We have the technology to deflect that object so it no longer presents a threat. But we do not have the political will. The left has one goal, complete control over our nation. The left has absorbed the so-called “Green Movement” and so they march on. The left have a week point. They don’t represent the rest of us. The left are the discredited communists and socialists looking for a new venue to advance their despotic aims. A totalerian system of government, with the Constitution being thrown on the dust heap of history.
I look at Prof. Heim, and the fact that this man, given his infirmities, gave us a “Intersteller Star Drive”, where we could traverse the deep of space between stars. And visit other planets! If you read his story, you would come back amazed. In the 60′s Werner Von Braun with his scientist visited him, to ask if their efforts were useless, given that Prof. Heim was presenting the ability to travel to the stars. The kind Prof told him you have to crawl before you walk. The USAF sent a delegation, to ask about the visability. The answer was technology has to develop. Well, technology has developed, the “Z” machine is able to test Prof. Heim’s theories. But, political will is not there, and it is not being tested. Maybe at sometime in the future it will.
There is an astronaut, retired, working with a company, developing a new rocket engine that can get us to Mars in a matter of weeks. You don’t hear about that.
The above comments are about personal responsibility, people do that which advances our race.
The leftist despots just want to be in control.
Mike
Similarly, if the billions and the decades had been used on fusion research, or even Nicola Tesla’s plan to tap the Van Allen belt, we might already have vertually worldwide free energy.
I work in the Forest Service and they do the same here. Lots of money in climate research and “greening” projects. You attend one of those regional “Sustainability” meetings and you feel like in a Greenpeace rally. Here, manmade global warming can’t be questioned and windmills and solar panels will save the world. “Social Justice” is a preferred term mentioned as justification.
So the problem goes way beyond Nasa. Federal agencies are as disproportionally left wing politiziced as universities and the media. At this point I don’t think there is any agency or government program that is dedicated to do what they are supposed to be doing.
A perfect example of a government entity trying to justify its existence. Do you suppose they will in fact find (or have concensus) that there is Global Warming even if the evidence shows the contrary?
As Monsignor Alberto Gorius declared: “The Science is settled!”,
no more money is needed to research climate change. Use the money to research areas where the science is NOT settled.
I thought their mission was to make Muslims feel good about themselves?
WHY AREN’T THEY ALL IN JAIL??????
Phil, #6 commenter, Eric Gisin hit it on the head.
James Hansen having authority in any capacity, frighteningly so when considered a ‘scientist’, let alone a ‘climate scientist’ is an insult to the climatological field and the scientific method. The man’s a nut.
I especially loved his ’88 draconian-like recommendations, results being exponential temperature increases by 2000 if ‘we do nothing’. Well, we’ve done nothing and the result? WE’VE COOLED!
As well as NASA cherry picking data from U.S. stations (I especially love the University of Arizona’s parking lot ‘weather station’. ‘Reeeal’ accurate!). Rather than using temp, wind, pressure type data from the thousands of manned, unmanned weather stations, it uses ~ 1% for their ‘validity’.
As for NOAA.. hahahaha
The DoC is such a nonsensical entity in every regard and a usurper for more Fed dollars/taxpayer dollars, it’ll say and stronghand their fledglings to mimic the same Mother Gaia fiction.
NASA is just another example of big government doing the wrong thing atthe wrong time in the wrong area of expertise (which they have none)Shut down the money tree now. If they are no lnger flying thane the budget should be dying
Dear Lying Looting Feral Gummint Mann-Made Climate-Disruption Bums
My neighbors and I have just completed our annual global-warming study.
For lack of a more intelligent name for it, we have agreed to call the phenomenon “Spring and Early Summer” again this year.
Best regards.
Sincerely – We, The People
While NASA was ‘supposed’ to be a ‘privately funded’ entity these days, just like the post office was years ago, we all know that NASA is a sink hole into which tax payer money disappears.
“Space” is only half of the known continuum equation. “Time” is the other half. ‘If’ NASA is supposed to study ‘space’ they could argue that it is the entire continuum (including ‘Time’) that they are supposed to be ‘studying’. That definition could very well include everything we know, including history.
‘If” on the other hand they are as we suspect only concerned with the physical body of ‘space’ outside of our atmosphere that limits their sphere of influence significantly. And in my estimation the benefits, enumerated by NASA, of their ‘study’ to the taxpayers have been pretty insignificant.
I know they do argue other wise. But for the cost benefit ratio analysis the argument becomes mute. NASA should be dissolved. Their “budget” funding should be returned to the tax payers.
From my perspective NASA lost its way long ago.
Besides its diversion of massive amounts of taxpayer dollars to proselytize on behalf of the global warming scam, beside the concomitant falsification of science and the discredit it has brought to scientific research in general—for who can trust the truth, completeness, or accuracy of “scientific” findings presented by a “scientist” anymore after reading the “Climategate” papers—NASA is a massive bureaucracy that has not produced generation after generation of innovative new space vehicles but has, instead, concentrated on babying along, making minor modifications to, and patching up its dwindling, 40 year old “fleet” of 1960s-1970’s era technology space shuttles.
Result, the last decrepit U.S. space shuttle remaining in service will make its final flight in a few months and then be retired, and despite the massive amounts of taxpayer money that have been poured into NASA over several decades, and despite all the “smarts” that supposedly reside at NASA, the United States will have exactly no space worthy shuttles or any successor vehicles available, and if we want to get into space thereafter, we will have to ask the Russians or Chinese very politely if we can hitch a ride on their space vehicles.
We have abandoned Space and along with it abandoned the imagination, drive, innovation, and technological progress that it required of us, and have settled for sitting on the sidelines observing, as China, Russia and other nations move out to pioneer in Space. They will reap the benefits, they will claim the “high ground” not us, they will be looking down at us, observers—not participants–on the ground staring up at them, as they soar away.
There may not be immediate economic gains from an effort to industrialize near space in orbit, nor immediate gains from establishing bases on the Moon or Mars and moving ever outward—although just our initial, abandoned efforts produced many very valuable technological spinoffs–but these accomplishments will at least allow us to get some very small fraction of humanity off Earth, to make sure that we do not have all our “eggs” in one basket, just in case something catastrophic might occur here on the home planet; a vital and very worthwhile goal in and of itself.
Had NASA made obvious, undeniable, concrete progress no Presidential administration would have likely been able to shut them down, they haven’t and they—and we—will suffer the consequences as we sit, defeated in the dust, by the side of the road, as the wagons of other people, not us anymore, and “Pioneers”–roll West to the Frontier.
If anyone is looking for signs that the struggle to maintain American greatness is being lost, I submit that NASA and our abandonment of this pioneering effort is one such sign.
To me abandoning this pioneering endeavor is gross negligence and misfeasance by NASA, and a betrayal of their prime mission and of America; what a pathetic, top heavy, hide-bound, bureaucratic failure is NASA.
The problem is far worse than the article, and the comments, describe. There is a vital legitimate role for NASA in the climate change controversy; it is to technically define the influence of solar, and interstellar radiation, in all frequencies, on the earth’s climate change. Some energies, at certain frequencies bounce off, others sink into the earth’s gravitational and atmospheric fields. Unfortunately, asking the NASA GISS people to lead this is akin to asking Hamas to control Israel’s policies, an absurdity. Climate change has degenerated into calling scientists a bunch of liars. A long time ago, they held differing judgments. However, no lay person, including journalists, can deduce why temperatures in 1934 are revised, down or up.
There is a cancer in US science. Some Americans seek money and power, at any cost; they have forgotten integrity. This is not new, but today these people speak in nonlinear regression analysis, and statistical inference. But when laymen learn that their conclusions require that 2+2 =5, the entire nation suffers, because we can not trust our technical experts. They lie. Thus we can not know the truth.
If NASA spends large monies on things not within their charter, they can not be trusted. People who can not be trusted with money should not get any. Put a brick on their pay check.
NASA’s mission is over. It’s a decadent misuse of taxpayers money by self indulgent elites. Space exploration that is necessary for maintaining national security can be done by the Air Force.
You can see the trap that Statists Progresives have put us in. To deny this funding will cause more unemployment – and we can’t have that, can we?
I guess they will have to shift their employees in charge of re-writing climate history to the department that re-writes the history of Islam’s contributions to math and science.
The same Egyptian Nasa scientist Dr. Essam Mohamed Haji, who asked to honor Tahrir Square martyr name on a spacecraft that will head for Mars is looking for water in the Middle East deserts with NASA’s help.Egyptian scientists, but the U.S. space agency (NASA) Plans Months ago to fight a war on the environment puts the water in Deserts The world, most notably in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan, (Anyone interested in regime change?)The project, however, “requires from 15 to 20 years to become a reality,” as he put on the phone with “Arab. Net” Tuesday 6/4/2010 where he lives in the suburb of Los Angeles. Except that the period could be shortened to 6 years ago if the insurance costs of the project, which is from 200 to $ 500 million, from outside the NASA budget.’We, as Arab nations, must use space technology to find water. It is a duty, not a choice,’.Hmmmmm…….What else is NASA (The obama Administration) doing for the Muslim world ?
http://sh22y.com/vb/t48137.html?language=en
http://www.arab-hdr.org/publications/ahdr/2009/alexandria/articles/nasascientist-apr10-e.pdf
This would make me laugh but we are the ones who put these people in office and gave them the right to make decision`s for us!!
#33. Interesting link to sh22y.com. Mohamed Haji appears to be a NASA JPL scientist who specializes in satellite studies using ground penetrating radar. The article alludes to indications of water located 2 km beneath the sands of Darfur, which if independently verified and sufficiently extensive would be a very big deal. The technology is the same as used to discover subsurface water on Mars.
IMO, the various research agencies of the government need to be reorganized. The problem of AGW is really one small part of larger problem of understanding how the terrestrial machine operates in its totality, which includes all the inuts and outputs, sources and sinks, over all time scales. NASA has the intellectual talent to prescribe a rational approach to studying the system, but its focus has been outward; its current organization is still basically what it was when established 50 years ago and reflects the priorities of the time.
The subject area that NOAA deals with is almost right (oceans and atmospheres, but also includes solar and solar wind), but its mandate is primarily operations, not fundamental research. Besides, its approach is piecemeal and parochial and not broad enough to seriously include issues such as disruptions to the system from energy escape from the interior, e.g., via volcanoes, instabilities in the various ocean current systems, etc. CO2, both natural and anthropogenic, certainly plays a role in the overall stability/instability of the atmospheric system; the question is, or should be, about its role compared to other factors.
The thrust of climate modelers is basically correct in concept and formulation (what are the alternatives?), but, complex as they are, the models still do not contain all the processes going on, and therefore are still too primitive to be used as reliable forecasting tools. As currently organized, NASA has a somewhat schizophrenic personality and doesn’t know quite what its mission is. In the absence of a clear mandate, it drifts, with each of its present divisions zealously guarding its turf and seeking both to maintain its existence and expansion of its budget.
FWIW:
Even Homeland Insecurity wants Climate Change money. WTF?
And that does not stand for “Win the Future”
It is important to point out that the Goddard Institute for Space Studies is just one separate component of the Goddard Space Flight Center. As such, it is not a surprise to see it’s website devoted to Earth sciences since that is its imperative in the first place and it is not an agency with its priorities in disarray in its general thrust although one can certainly question its priorities within the Earth sciences. The point is that it is not out of place in their brief. It clearly states on its site at the upper right that it is an Earth Sciences Division of the GSFC
The larger GSFC has the looked for programs having to do with the frontiers of space from near-Earth orbit and beyond. There, you will find plenty about space exploration.
James, though your intention is in the right place, the end result is suspect.
The most recent publication I could locate federal dollars going specifically into GISS studies was 2000, where only 2 people (TWO!!!) worked, less than $1 million in support of the program.
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9954&page=67
How much you want to wager that number’s gone up exponentially. $50 million? $100 million? Dollars to donuts more than that.
So we can specualte GISS is more a ‘greendoggle’ than ‘scientific research’ arm of NASA.
Wait, James Hansen’s in charge of it, whereas the GISS website speaks of, ahem, ‘Dr.’ James Hansen, folowed by a comma and ‘emphasizes a broad study about climate change’. -That is the ONLY honest thing on the GISS site!! hahaha
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/about/
There is nothing suspect about what I wrote; it is exactly as I have stated it.
Between reaching out to Muslims and diagnosing Toyotas, NASA is an agency in need of a mission.
Instead of studying global warming on Earth, NASA should figure out why the polar ice cap on Mars is shrinking. I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest the sun might have something to do with it!
GISS adjusted the surface temperature records because most of them are nearly worthless. Stations that were set up a long time ago in countryside are now in urban areas, which are known to be warmer (the “urban heat-island” effect). And those adjusted records don’t agree with satellite records, either. See the NIPCC report (http://www.heartland.org/ClimateChangeReconsidered).
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.