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present plan is for 3 U.S., 1 ESA and 1 Japanese platform. The geostationary platforms complement the polar platforms by providing continuous synoptic (snapshot) coverage of the entire earth with high time resolution for studies of processes that have significant diurnal variation and for singular events. These platforms would come late in the Mission to Planet Earth program, with a new start in the mid 90's and a first launch at the end of the century.

The central component of Mission to Planet Earth is the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). This system provides for central receiving, processing and archiving of the data from the space elements of Mission to Planet Earth. Its initial implementation will be done for EOS, the first space element. We now have two competitive Phase B studies funded for the design of the EOSDIS.

The information resident in the EOSDIS will be used by scientists all over the world to conduct research on earth system science and global change. Global-scale earth system models will be constructed, the descendants of today's GCMs, and will be tested against the long-term, global data sets in the EOSDIS. These models will incorporate information on earth system processes that result from Mission to Planet Earth research and analysis programs. The ultimate product of Mission to Planet earth will be validated global, interactive earth system models with the ability to predict future global change to an accuracy sufficient for future policy- makers.

Summary

Mission to Planet Earth will be the largest scientific undertaking in the history of NASA. Because of the global nature of the problem this mission addresses, and the interest of most of the world in the goals of the mission, Mission to Planet Earth will involve cooperation and cost-sharing by most of the major space- faring nations of the world under the leadership of the U.S. Even so, the cost to the U.S. for the full complement of the mission during the peak years in the late 90's could be more than 2 billion dollars per year. This is five times the present amount spent on earth  science programs in NASA. These costs are large enough to require strong leadership and commitment to the issue of global change. The benefits, however, are many:

1. a critical investment in preserving the global environment, and in providing the information required to cope with the potential for future global change.

2. utilization of the U.S. investment in space research for a purpose which everyone can see and appreciate, and for providing direct benefit to the citizens of the U.S.