NASA has selected two University of Washington-led teams to lead satellite missions aimed at enhancing our understanding of Earth and improving our ability to predict and mitigate environmental disasters. The STRIVE and EDGE missions, part of NASA's Earth System Explorers Program, were chosen in May 2024. Each mission's estimated cost, excluding launch, is capped at $355 million, with a launch date no earlier than 2030. The STRIVE mission, led by Lyatt Jaeglé, focuses on the atmosphere's temperature and trace gases, crucial for aviation and understanding volcanic smoke and air pollution transport. It will make over 400,000 observations daily, capturing atmospheric details that other missions miss by looking sideways at the Earth. The EDGE mission, led by Helen Amanda Fricker, will be the first global satellite imaging laser altimeter system, capturing high-resolution surface details and precisely tracking changes in surface elevation over time, especially in polar regions, forests, and coastlines. This technology will significantly advance our understanding of climate change impacts on ice sheets and glaciers and have wide-ranging applications in various scientific and engineering fields.
