PCAP - Presidential Climate Action Project

Direct NASA to restore earth science language in the agency’s mission statement andpriorities.B-132. Restore the government’s earth sciences mission.In February 2006, top officials at NASA changed the agency’s mission statement to remove apassage that stated NASA should not only “explore the universe and search for life,” but also“understand and protect our home planet.” The next President should restore the deletedpassage and what it symbolizes: the federal government’s commitment to better understand theEarth’s ecosystems, how to protect them and how they now are changing. PCAP Report 11:3.Background. See excerpt from PCAP Report above.Statutes. The President determines whether a space or aeronautical activity is military or not—non-military activities fall under NASA’s mandate. 254 Congress has established, by statute, thepossible objectives for NASA:(d) Objectives of aeronautical and space activitiesThe aeronautical and space activities of the United States shall beconducted so as to contribute materially to one or more of the followingobjectives:(1) The expansion of human knowledge of the Earth and of phenomena inthe atmosphere and space;(2) The improvement of the usefulness, performance, speed, safety, andefficiency of aeronautical and space vehicles;(3) The development and operation of vehicles capable of carryinginstruments, equipment, supplies, and living organisms through space;(4) The establishment of long-range studies of the potential benefits to begained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in theutilization of aeronautical and space activities for peaceful and scientificpurposes;...[Objectives 5-9 Omitted] 255254 42 U.S.C. § 2451(b).255 Id. at § 2451 (d) (emphasis added).CEES 63 | P age