NASA and the Politics of Climate Research Satellites and Rising Seas

About this book

Today, there exists an integrated, large-scale satellite system to track sea-level rise, its speed, causes, and impacts. Building it was a struggle every step of the way. It was the most vivid and potentially consequential program within NASA's larger Earth Science directorate. How did it happen? Who did what? Why? This book seeks to answer such questions. It goes back to the origins of NASA's interest in the oceans in the 1960s and the first true ocean satellite, Seasat, in 1978. After three months of operation, Seasat failed. But before it did, it showed how much satellites could tell about the ocean's dynamics. In many ways, sea-level rise is the clearest and most understandable result of a warming planet.

Contents

- Introduction
- The Coming of Seasat
- Adopting TOPEX/Poseidon
- Breakthrough for Sea-Level Rise
- Remaking a Mission
- High Hopes
- “At Risk of Collapse”
- Rebuilding Begins
- Gaining Momentum
- Taking “The Lead”
- Mounting Defense
- Advancing
- Conclusion

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Biography

W. Henry Lambright is Professor of Public Administration, International Affairs, and Political Science at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA.