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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机译：根据1958年的《国家航空和航天法》的规定，美国宇航局的战略目标“促进对不断变化的地球系统的科学理解，以满足社会需求”，延续了该机构通过太空活动扩大人类对地球知识的传统。在过去的50年中，NASA在开发天基地球观测系统和功能方面一直处于世界领先地位，这从根本上改变了我们对地球的看法并定义了地球系统科学。美国国家研究委员会（National Research Council）在2008年由美国国家科学院（National Academy of Sciences）发表的《太空中的地球观测：科学成就的第50年》报告阐明了这些关键成就和太空观测能力的发展，并期待着解决地球问题的潜在潜力科学的问题，使大量的实际应用成为可能。 NASA的地球科学计划是一项端到端计划，涵盖了观测技术和实施观测技术所需的仪器技术的发展。这包括从地面，空中或天基平台进行的实验室测试和演示；进行研究以增加基本过程知识；将结果纳入复杂的计算模型，以更全面地表征地球系统的当前状态和未来发展；与国家和国际组织建立合作伙伴关系，这些合作伙伴可以将生成的信息用于环境预测以及政策，业务和管理决策中。目前，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的地球科学部（ESD）进行了14次地球科学太空飞行任务，其中6项正在研发中，另外18项正在研究中或在降低技术风险方面。已与美国全球变化研究计划一起确定了两个第2层年代际气候调查任务，分别是夜间，白天和季节的CO2排放的主动传感（ASCENDS）和地表水和海洋地形（SWOT）。在2019-2020年的时间范围内。美国国家航空航天局（NASA）将于2013年开始对国际空间站（ISS）托管的SAGE III大气化学仪器进行翻新，并将启动重力恢复和气候实验（GRACE）后续任务，于2016年发射。
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