Alexandra Witze, Earth in action

Loss of eyes in the sky hurts science on the ground

SN Prime | September 19, 2011 | Vol. 1, No. 14

In a clean room at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California sits the next great hope of the United States’ Earth-monitoring program. About the size of a minibus, it is covered in gold foil, riddled with electrical wires, and very clean.