NASA Earth Science, formerly called the NASA
Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), formerly called
Mission To Planet Earth (MTPE), is a NASA
research program "to develop a scientific
understanding of the Earth system and its
response to natural and human-induced changes
to enable improved prediction of climate,
weather, and natural hazards for present and
future generations".
== NASA's vision ==
To improve life here.
To extend life to there.
To find life beyond.
== NASA's mission ==
To understand and protect our home planet.
To explore the Universe and search for life.
To inspire the next generation of explorers.
== Earth science ==
"To improve life here" and "To understand
and protect our home planet," NASA supports
research in the Earth Sciences and, as part
of its Earth Observing System (EOS), launches
and maintains Earth observing satellites to
monitor the state of the climate, atmospheric
chemistry, ocean and land ecosystems.
It was a NASA scientist, Dr. James Hansen,
who first alerted the world to the dangers
of global warming due to greenhouse gases
emitted by human burning of fossil fuels.
Earth Science research also provides the foundations
of understanding for the search for extraterrestrial
life through the NASA Astrobiology Institute
(NAI), in which the focus is often on the
extreme conditions for life to survive
