It was in 2002, during the George W. Bush administration, when NASA decided to put a satellite into orbit to track emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas pumped into the atmosphere through human activity.
After many twists and turns, NASA's 23-year remit of charting greenhouse gas emissions could come to a close as soon as the end of this month. President Donald Trump's budget request to Congress calls for terminating 41 of NASA's 124 science missions in development or operations, and another 17 would see their funding zeroed out in the near future. Overall, the proposed budget slashes NASA's spending by 25 percent and cuts NASA's science funding in half.
This year's federal budget runs out September 30, and although lawmakers from both parties have signaled they will reject most of Trump's cuts, it's far from certain that Congress will pass a budget for the next fiscal year before the looming deadline. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has directed NASA managers to make plans to close out the missions tagged for cancellation.
