Atmospheric Science at NASA: A History

415 Pages·2008·4.04 MB·English

by  Erik M. Conway

Atmospheric Science at NASA
New Series in NASA History
Steven J. Dick, Series Editor
Atmospheric Science
at NASA
A History
erik m. conway
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
©2008 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2008
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Conway, Erik M., 1965–
Atmospheric science at NASA : a history / Erik M. Conway.
p. cm. — (New series in NASA history)
isbn-13:978-0-8018-8984-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn-10:0-8018-8984-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Atmospheric sciences—History. 2. Satellite meteorology—History.
3. Astronautics in meteorology—History. 4. United States. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. I. Title.
qc855.c662008
551.50973—dc22
2008007633
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To my grandparents,
for the new world
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A satellite vehicle with appropriate instrumentation can be expected to be
one of the most potent scientifi c tools of the Twentieth Century.
—RAND, 1946
We did these industrial activities for perfectly understandable reasons, and we
discover that we have outsmarted ourselves, that we haven’t understood the
fragility of the Earth’s atmosphere and the power of our technology.
—Carl Sagan, 1992
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1 Establishing the Meteorology Program 11
2 Developing Satellite Meteorology 39
3 Constructing a Global Meteorology 64
4 Planetary Atmospheres 94
5 NASA Atmospheric Research in Transition 122
6 Atmospheric Chemistry 154
7 The Quest for a Climate Observing System 198
8 Missions to Planet Earth: Architectural Warfare 243
9 Atmospheric Science in the Mission to Planet Earth 276
Conclusion 312
Epilogue 321
Notes 325
Index 375
Color illustrations follow page 140