Houze教授からO'Keef NASA長官への手紙

Sean O'Keefe, Administrator, NASA 
NASA Headquarters
Washington DC 20546-0001 

Dear Administrator O’Keefe, 

I am writing to express my dismay at the news that NASA’s leadership are now planning 
for an immediate termination of the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM). 
Such a termination would be both a tragedy and a travesty. 

I have been a member of the TRMM Science Team for the past 17+ years. 
As a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, 
I have operated a top-ranked research program in precipitating cloud
systems for 32 years. From this perspective, I can say that we are only
just beginning to reap the benefits of this satellite. As you know, the
satellite has operated almost perfectly for six years and there is every
reason to expect its satellite systems and science instruments to
continue to do so far into the future. The TRMM satellite has been so
successful that it has outperformed even our highest expectations. Most
significantly, TRMM has turned out to be not only a priceless tool for
better understanding of precipitation but also to be extremely useful
for forecasting of hazardous weather, especially hurricanes. 

TRMM has proved the value of this new type of satellite, both for basic science
and hazard mitigation associated with storms. One of the unique features
of TRMM is that it has the first (and only) precipitation radar in space
and the earliest date for a replacement for such a satellite would be
2010. This satellite has given us the ability for the first time to see
how precipitation processes vary from place to place in the tropical
atmosphere, which determines much of the character of our weather and
its changes from year to year in the U.S. 

The U.S. and Japan have already invested about $750M in TRMM. I have been told 
that a current shortfall of about $3M is driving the decision to terminate
TRMM. This seems small compared to $750M. I have to wonder if the decision
to end the mission has been exacerbated by some other factors, such as a
reduction in NASA's budget for the Earth Science Enterprise. Whatever
the case, it is not too late to correct this potential grave error.  

I have also heard that a reason for premature termination of TRMM is the need to 
begin a controlled reentry for safety reasons. As a rational person, I
have trouble fathoming this reasoning. The benefits to public safety via
hurricane and other storm warnings would far outweigh a low probability
reentry hazard. 

I have also heard words to the effect that the satellite has been up “long enough.” 
This is so scientifically indefensible and erroneous that I assume that
maybe I didn’t hear this correctly. Considering the types of
interannual variability that occur in the atmosphere, especially in the
tropics, we need as many years of data as possible to determine how
precipitation and storm patterns and behavior vary from year to year. To
build the data record we need scientifically, TRMM needs to be in orbit
as long as possible. Another 2-6 years of data from TRMM would reap
enormous scientific benefit. 

Please rearrange NASA’s priorities in this matter?both budgetary and scientific. 
The Earth Science Enterprise is of untold value to increasing the
knowledge of our home planet, and its funding should be both ample and
applied for maximum benefit to society. The satellite systems and
instruments of TRMM  are still functioning nearly perfectly and are
expected to continue to do so. Expensive missions into space can and
often do end by a rocket blowing up on the launch pad or by a satellite
losing its communication with earth. When a space mission such as TRMM
is highly successful and in the midst of carrying out its planned and
direly needed mission with a perfectly healthy and useful satellite, it
is not in the best interest of the taxpayers who paid for the mission to
shoot the satellite down. If a budget shortfall is driving this decision,
the shortfall needs to be resolved in a more responsible and
cost-effective fashion. 

Sincerely,



Robert A. Houze
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences