Don't Look, NASA!

It seems that NASA's mission statement was given a subtle 'mid-course correction' last February.

Here's what it said in 2002:

"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."

Here's how it looks as of February, 2006:

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

Whereas the 2002 statement was composed in open consultation with the scientific community, in 2006 there was no mention of this change, no advice sought, and NASA scientists have only just noticed.

Such a minor alteration, yet such a fundamental shift in priorities!

It means that NASA is no longer to be concerned with exploring the planet we live on. No longer to be involved in earth satellites that monitor the health of our home. No longer to observe the changes in climate that indicate a warming of the atmosphere. No longer to provide evidence of an inconvenient truth. No longer to have such an inconvenient sentence in its mission statement.

How convenient for the carbon lobby!

I will be following Worldchanging's Alex Steffen's advice, and shall place the omitted statement prominently on my site.

Lest we forget.