The end of manned missions creates a crucial point to re-define NASA’s mission as a science agency. Launching DSCOVR must be the highest priority of the US.
Park, University of Maryland Professor of Physics, former director of American Physical Society, 2011
(Robert, Scitable by Nature “What’s New: The news from a physicist’s perspective” July 11, 2011,
http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/whats-new , accessed 7-23-11, ASR)
1. FINAL VOYAGE: IT'S TIME TO RE-EXAMINE SPACE PRIORITIES.
In the beginning, US space priorities were set by the Soviet Union. 0ur only priority was to win. We won hands down, but the end of the Cold War left us split. With the memory of tickertape parades in the Apollo program still fresh, one side wanted to go Hollywood with the focus on heroic astronauts. The other side thought NASA should be a science agency, leading the way into a new age of scientific instrumentation. The game ended in a tie. NASA was split right down the middle: manned and unmanned. By any objective measure the manned program is an expensive drag, but it was never meant to be judged objectively. The end of the shuttle program gives us a tiny window of opportunity to rethink the space option. The highest priority must be to protect Earth by: 1. identifying all Earth-crossing asteroids and projecting their trajectories into the distant future, and 2. locating the DSCOVR observatory at the L-1 point to monitor solar activity and climate change on the whole Earth. This is the most urgent responsibility imaginable and only the US can do it.
***Answers To Case Arguments
AT: Other Satellites Detect Solar Storms Now
DSCOVR is comparably better than ACE and other alternatives
Clark 2009
[Stephen, “Mothballed Satellite Sits In Warehouse, Waits For New Life”, Space.com, http://www.space.com/2286-mothballed-satellite-sits-warehouse-waits-life.html, BJM]
The focus of the new would-be mission, which is still unnamed, would be to measure solar wind particles and their effects on the environment around Earth. PlasMag and a solar coronal mass ejection sensor would be likely payloads, but specifics have not yet been finalized. Data from the redefined DSCOVR mission would be similar to science produced by the Advanced Composition Explorer and the Wind space observatory, which are 11 years old and 14 years old, respectively. PlasMag would provide a 30-fold improvement in temporal resolution over ACE and Wind, according to scientists. The solar wind data would be used for operational space weather forecasting by NOAA and the Air Force Weather Agency, according to an Air Force spokesperson.
DSCOVR outperforms GOES and NPOESS
Coletti, Principal Scientist at SM Research Corp, 2007
(Alex, “LaGrange & Artificial Lagrange Orbit Applications to NOAA Observing System Requirements” December 2007, accessed 7-23-11, ASR)
The discussion considers the particular case of the LaGrange orbit spacecraft Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) because its well-defined environmental measurement functionalities can be evaluated against the Consolidated Observation Requirements List (CORL) of existing NOSA satellite systems. This study concludes that the vantage point of LO, and the rather unique combination of the spectral bands used for the measurements, make DSCOVR capable of meeting several threshold requirements for both NPOESS and GOES-R observations. More specifically, DSCOVR is capable of generating between 1/3 and 2/3 of all their products. Further analysis is needed to determine the exact number of the NPOESS and GOESR products that can be generated within the system requirements. New algorithms need to be developed before DSCOVR's capabilities can be more accurately quantified.
A2: Not Feasible/Won’t Work/No Solvency
DSCOVR is ready for operation – no time lag & works perfectly
Clark 2009
[Stephen, “Mothballed Satellite Sits In Warehouse, Waits For New Life”, Space.com, http://www.space.com/2286-mothballed-satellite-sits-warehouse-waits-life.html, BJM]
NOAA and the Air Force have already paid NASA to remove DSCOVR from its white storage crate and begin testing at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We have paid NASA to do a study to tell us if DSCOVR as a spacecraft is still flyable," said Gary Davis, director of the Office of Systems Development at NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. The testing began in November with the power-up of DSCOVR and a set of space environment sensors known as PlasMag. DSCOVR's Earth science instruments were not turned on. The checks are helping officials estimate the cost of revamping the satellite for a new mission and launching it on an expendable rocket. NASA delivered a report to NOAA last month outlining the results of the study, including the spacecraft's health. NOAA officials are still analyzing the assessment, an agency spokesperson said. A team of about 30 employees checked the satellite's systems and conducted magnetic cleanliness tests. DSCOVR's solar arrays were also successfully deployed, and engineers are currently testing the power-producing panels in a vacuum chamber at Goddard. "The first time we opened up the spacecraft, it worked perfectly," said Joe Burt, a NASA official overseeing the testing. "It was like it had just been asleep."
DSCOVR can be launched now – it’s ready
Clark 2009
[Stephen, “Mothballed Satellite Sits In Warehouse, Waits For New Life”, Space.com, http://www.space.com/2286-mothballed-satellite-sits-warehouse-waits-life.html, BJM]
Valero said the cost of launching DSCOVR's full set of instruments, which includes payloads designed to monitor the solar wind, would not be much different than the cost of flying a new instrument package geared only toward space environment studies. "The total cost of the instruments, the science, and the support that will be necessary is about 10 or 15 percent of the total cost (of the mission)," Valero said. "The lost opportunity for science and the waste of taxpayers' money are unconscionable." The current DSCOVR study was commissioned under the Bush administration, and Valero is appealing to senior government officials in an attempt to salvage the mission's Earth science goals. "All that needs to be done is to launch the satellite as it is now," Valero said. "Everything is on there. The solar instruments are on. The Earth science instruments are already bolted on the satellite. If they don't start working and spending money to remove things, that would be wonderful."
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