NASA quietly changes mission statement to delete mention of Earth

Sometime in February, NASA quietly altered its mission statement. Since 2002, the all-important mission statement read:

"To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can."

This year, it was changed. The phrase "to understand and protect our home planet" was slipped out, and the mission, clearly published on this year's budget and planning documents, states tthe agency’s mission "to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research."

There will be far less funding for Earth Science studiesThe true reason for changing the mission statement, especially under such secrecy, is anyone's guess. A spokesman from NASA, David E. Steitz, claimed that the move was solely to adjust the statement to more closely match President Bush's goals of human spaceflight to the Moon and Mars.

This is not a welcome change, however to many scientists employed or otherwise funded by NASA. Many claim that the deleted phrase helped shape executive research and funding priorities and that without it there will be far less funding for Earth Science studies, including those involving global climate change.

According to Andy Revkin, "the change was made at NASA headquarters without consulting the agency’s 19,000 employees or informing them ahead of time."

Interestingly, Jim Hansen, a NASA climatologist who recently complained that he was being threatened for speaking out about global warming, frequently cited the deleted phrase. He believes that this change was an intentional move to shift attention away from global warming:

"They're making it clear that they have the authority to make this change, that the president sets the objectives for NASA, and that they prefer that NASA work on something that's not causing them a problem."