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NASA's New Missions Cover All Bases

Irene Klotz, Discovery News

Photos

Target: Dark Energy

Feb. 14, 2008 -- NASA is planning a probe to explore the unknown force driving the expansion of the universe and has rekindled its interest in monitoring Earth's changing environment.

The initiatives are among seven new science missions NASA plans to begin later this year.

"That's more than the last three years combined," NASA's associate administrator for science Alan Stern said in a conference call with reporters to discuss the agency's $4.4 billion budget plan for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Overall, the space agency is seeking $17.6 billion, about 3 percent more than the previous year.

The Joint Dark Energy Mission, a partnership with the Department of Energy, seeks to determine if the universe's rate of expansion varies over time. A decade ago, researchers discovered that the universe is growing faster now than it did earlier in its history. NASA wants to begin a competitive process to consider proposals to study the phenomena.

Closer to home, NASA plans to begin work on two new spacecraft to measure Earth's soil and ice, information that will be crucial in understanding climate change.

"This will dramatically accelerate what we are able to do," Stern said. "Picture the NASA logo, which is today not just blue, but turning green."

NASA wants to spend nearly $1 billion over the next five years for five new Earth science missions.