{"id":204502,"date":"2016-12-02T11:17:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T16:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=204502"},"modified":"2022-04-25T21:00:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T01:00:59","slug":"nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA’s historic, crucial role in earth science"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an op-ed for the New York Times<\/em> titled “Earth, the Final Frontier<\/a>,<\/strong>” Professor of Physics and Astronomy Adam Frank makes the case for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s role in earth-centric science. \u201cNot only is earth science a long-running part of NASA\u2019s \u2018prime mission,\u2019 but it is uniquely positioned to do it. Without NASA, climate research worldwide would be hobbled,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

The study of earth and its atmosphere (and, by extension, its climate) have been top priorities since the agency\u2019s creation by the Space Act of 1958, Frank notes. He cites specific examples from NASA\u2019s nearly 60-year history, including the following:<\/p>\n

Consider NASA\u2019s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or Grace, mission. It was designed to study Earth\u2019s gravity field, meaning the planet\u2019s distribution of mass. Grace could \u201csee\u201d changes in ocean currents, precipitation runoff on land and changes in groundwater storage. Grace showed us the spreading of drought conditions as water tables dropped. In this way the Grace data speak directly to a fundamental mistake of the agency\u2019s critics. Climate change is not the direction<\/em> of NASA\u2019s earth-science enterprise; it\u2019s a conclusion<\/em> of that effort.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because economies of scale contribute to NASA\u2019s successes, \u201c[proposals] to get NASA \u2018back to\u2019 some other kind of science not only ring false but their wasteful price tag would also fly in the face of fiscal conservative values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than politicizing the science, Frank argues that we should be harnessing the capabilities of NASA to address the challenges and opportunities the planet is facing as a result of climate change.<\/p>\n

Read more in the New York Times<\/em> >><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Astrophysicist Adam Frank<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A self-described \u201cevangelist of science,\u201d Frank regularly writes\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0speaks\u00a0about subjects like intelligent life forms in the universe, high-energy-density physics, space exploration and missions, climate change, and more.<\/p>\n

Explore full profile \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an op-ed for the New York Times<\/em>, Professor Adam Frank makes the case for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s role in earth-centric science. \u201cWithout NASA, climate research worldwide would be hobbled,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":204522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29212],"tags":[16792,18662,16072,12722],"class_list":["post-204502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-voices-opinion","tag-adam-frank","tag-department-of-physics-and-astronomy","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-space"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNASA's historic, crucial role in earth science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NASA's historic, crucial role in earth science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an op-ed for the New York Times, Professor Adam Frank makes the case for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's role in earth-centric science. \u201cWithout NASA, climate research worldwide would be hobbled,\u201d he writes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-02T16:17:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-26T01:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sofia Tokar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sofia Tokar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sofia Tokar\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199\"},\"headline\":\"NASA’s historic, crucial role in earth science\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-02T16:17:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-26T01:00:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":341,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Adam Frank\",\"Department of Physics and Astronomy\",\"School of Arts and Sciences\",\"space\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Voices & Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/\",\"name\":\"NASA's historic, crucial role in earth science\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-02T16:17:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-26T01:00:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/12\\\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (CC BY-SA 2.0 photo \\\/ Flickr user Francisco Schmidt)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NASA’s historic, crucial role in earth science\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199\",\"name\":\"Sofia Tokar\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/stokar\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NASA's historic, crucial role in earth science","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NASA's historic, crucial role in earth science","og_description":"In an op-ed for the New York Times, Professor Adam Frank makes the case for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's role in earth-centric science. \u201cWithout NASA, climate research worldwide would be hobbled,\u201d he writes.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2016-12-02T16:17:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-26T01:00:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sofia Tokar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sofia Tokar","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/"},"author":{"name":"Sofia Tokar","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199"},"headline":"NASA’s historic, crucial role in earth science","datePublished":"2016-12-02T16:17:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-26T01:00:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/"},"wordCount":341,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg","keywords":["Adam Frank","Department of Physics and Astronomy","School of Arts and Sciences","space"],"articleSection":["Voices & Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/","name":"NASA's historic, crucial role in earth science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-02T16:17:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-26T01:00:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/flickr_francisco-schmidt-nasa_1000x600.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (CC BY-SA 2.0 photo \/ Flickr user Francisco Schmidt)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/nasa-role-earth-science-op-ed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NASA’s historic, crucial role in earth science"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199","name":"Sofia Tokar","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/stokar\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204502"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":520852,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204502\/revisions\/520852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}