NASA Selects Advanced Earth System Explorers to Enhance Weather Forecasting and Lunar Exploration

NASA has selected two advanced Earth System Explorers missions to enhance understanding of planetary environments and support future space exploration. The STRIVE mission, led by Lyatt Jaegle at the University of Washington in Seattle, will deliver daily high-resolution measurements of temperature, atmospheric elements, aerosols, ozone, and trace gases from the upper troposphere to the mesosphere. NASA reports this data will improve long-range weather forecasts, aiding coastal communities worldwide. The EDGE mission, headed by Helen Amanda Fricker at the University of California San Diego, will map three-dimensional structures of ecosystems, glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice, building on NASA's ICESat-2 and GEDI satellites to assess transportation corridors and commercial terrains. Each mission faces a confirmation review in 2027, with costs capped at 355 million dollars excluding launch, targeting no earlier than 2030.

In lunar science advancements, NASA's Artemis II mission, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, completed a key fueling test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Cold weather delayed tanking on February 2, revealing a leak in the service module cavity during liquid hydrogen fast fill, but engineers met most objectives. NASA now targets March 2026 for launch, shifting from February windows like March 6 to 9, after data review and a second rehearsal. The crew, released from quarantine in Houston, will orbit Earth twice, circle the Moon at 8,000 kilometers, and splash down in the Pacific after 10 days, paving the way for Artemis III landings.

Meanwhile, NASA's SPHEREx mission from Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California tracked the brightening of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during its all-sky infrared mapping, offering insights into cosmic visitors. ROSES-2025 Amendment 45 extended the F.10 PRISM Step-2 deadline to February 27 for lunar surface payloads at sites like the South Pole, supporting planetary science, Earth science, and exploration goals via Commercial Lunar Payload Services landers.

These developments highlight a pattern of integrated Earth and planetary observations informing Artemis campaigns, extreme environment studies for Moon and Mars safety, and growing international focus on lunar south pole resources, as discussed in recent U.S. delegations at the Vienna Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee from February 2 to 13.

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