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'Gore-Sat' Climate Probe May Get Second Chance

Irene Klotz, Discovery News

After completing the NOAA work to test the observatory's solar instruments, NASA is now finishing an assignment from Congress to test its Earth science instruments and outline options for a new mission, said NASA spokesman Stephen Cole.

"The testing has concluded," Cole told Discovery News. "I don't have a firm date of when the report will go to Congress."

Cole said NASA already has spent $97 million on the program, though Valero puts that figure closer to $250 million.

Deep Space Climate Observatory was assembled and was part way through testing when the program was canceled in November 2001, about a year from its planned launch.

Valero would like to update the probe's computer and eight-megapixel camera. But its mirror and prime instrument -- a heat-sensing radiometer to make the first direct measurements of how much sunlight is reflected and emitted from the whole planet -- remains state-of-the-art, he said.

"Were it not for my hope that this will fly, I'd go and play with my grandchildren, which is wonderful," Valero said. "This is a very significant program. It is the next step. It will either happen now, or in the next 10 years. I hope it is soon."

Related Links:

Discovery Space Blog: Free Space

HowStuffWorks.com: Al Gore Rethinks Climate Change

Discovery Space