Admist the calculated insanity of imminent Federal Government shutdown orchestrated by Republicans, there is another bit of calculated ignorance, which has successfully blinded scientists. The only satellite ever built by NASA but not launched is $100 million in climate data gathering sensor capabilities, sitting in a warehouse in Maryland -- for the last 10 years. Read this outstanding Popular Science article by the persevering Bill Donahue: Who Killed The Deep Space Climate Observatory?
Politicized as the "GoreSat", it was shelved days before moving to the launch site by the G.W. Bush Administration. You might think that the Obama Adminstration would put this critical eye into the sky? Answer: Yes, Maybe, but No. The Yes part: "...the 2009 federal omnibus budget bill, the first passed under the Obama administration, contained $9 million specifically allocated" for DSCOVR, The Maybe Part: no launch/program funds have been allocated; and The No part: according to NOAA, "... earth science is not NOAA’s purpose for the mission." Get this, they want to repurpose it for space weather, not Earth's climate.
Please help raise awareness of this vital tool to help understand the Earth's climate. Sign the petition at Fly The Deep Space Climate Observatory on its Original Mission. To suppress the gathering of scientific data is exactly what deniers of climate change want. For 10 long critical years have we been blind to the vantage point the DSCOVR satellite offers. Launch this bird now, for its original intent: to be one of our main climate-eyes-in-the-sky.
REPURPOSED
The DSCOVR Satellite was included in the 2012 budget: "$47 million in fiscal year 2012 to convert a climate satellite grounded by politics into an observatory to monitor space weather and warn of solar storms". This repurposing was instigated by NASA itself, as the people who were the most hostile toward DSCOVR were handpicked to evaluate it.
VITAL
DSCOVER is to reside at Langrangian Point L1, 1 million miles above Earth. Its needed to augment the CERES satellites: This Satellite Could Help Save Humanity.
COMMENTARY
Knee-jerk climate change deniers don't want the information, the objective scientific data. Even if you question "Global Warming", wouldn't you want to have more data? The shelving of this powerful tool effectively blinds scientists, and feeds into the ignorance and denial insanity. We needed this satellite studying our climate 10 years ago when it was shut down by G.W. Bush. Help call to power-up, launch and fly DSCOVER on its original mission, and let's provide scientists the power to see the data they need.