The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is reported to have “an extraordinarily low” chance of success, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said.
That is “sobering,” agreed Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), appearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee oceans, atmosphere, fisheries and Coast Guard subcommittee, a hearing that Cantwell chaired. It examined the NOAA budget plan for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010.
Lubchenco promised that attempting to fix the long-troubled NPOESS program would “be one of my highest priorities.”
A major cause of the problem, she said, is that three agencies are attempting to run NPOESS: NOAA, NASA and the Air Force. “The tri-agency structure is not working and needs to be fixed,” Lubchenco said.
Cantwell termed NPOESS “an acquisition program done by committee.”
One person on the tri-agency oversight panel, whom Lubchenco didn’t name, lacks authority to make decisions, she noted.
A serious threat, she said, is that NPOESS already is years behind schedule, and “any further delays in the program put it at risk” that continuity of data about the Earth, recorded by orbiting satellites, will be interrupted.
“Action is needed” to fix the mess, Lubchenco said.