Aug 30 2002
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(New page: NASA scientists Eric J. Rignot and Robert H. Thomas published results of one of the most detailed and widespread examinations of polar ice sheets ever performed. Researchers had already de...)
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NASA scientists Eric J. Rignot and Robert H. Thomas published results of one of the most detailed and widespread examinations of polar ice sheets ever performed. Researchers had already determined that changes in the thickness of polar ice correlated with changes in sea level but disagreed about the extent to which the thickness of the ice sheets was changing. Analyzing recent remote-sensing measurements of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, Rignot and Thomas discovered that the thickness of the ice sheets was changing more rapidly than previously thought. Although the data was indeterminate concerning changes in some parts of the ice sheets, Rignot and Thomas found clear evidence that large regions of the polar ice sheets were rapidly changing, with accumulation of ice in some areas and attrition in others. Despite such variations, the scientists found that, overall, the major polar ice sheets were losing mass. Specifically, Greenland's ice sheet was losing 50 cubic kilometers (12 cubic miles) of mass annually, and the West Antarctic ice sheet appeared to be losing nearly 48 cubic kilometers (11.5 cubic miles) of mass per year. (NASA JPL, “NASA Study Finds Rapid Changes in Earth's Polar Ice Sheets,” news release, 30 August 2002; Eric Rignot and Robert H. Thomas, “Mass Balance of Polar Ice Sheets,” Science 297, no. 5586 (30 August 2002): 1502- 1506.)
The ReMAP Task Force of NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR) presented its final report to the NASA Advisory Council. NASA had charged the ReMAP Task Force with evaluating the research productivity and priorities of NASA's OBPR and with providing a framework for prioritizing a research program for the OBPR and the ISS. ReMAP's 173-page report identified two major goals of these programs: research enabling human exploration of space and basic research of intrinsic scientific interest. In addition, the report made several recommendations, for example, that NASA increase the ISS's facilities and equipment for scientific research, as well as the amount of time that ISS crew members dedicated to scientific operations. The report stated that, if NASA did not make these and other enhancements to the ISS, then NASA “should cease to characterize the ISS as a science driven program.” (NASA ReMAP Task Force, “Report by the NASA Biological and Physical Research Maximization and Prioritization (ReMAP) Task Force to the NASA Advisory Council” (report, Washington, DC, August 2002).)
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