Trump's budget axes 5 climate change projects from NASA

Flight controllers work with the International Space Station Monday at the Johnson Space Center. Funding for the station may be eliminated after 2024. Flight controllers work with the International Space Station Monday at the Johnson Space Center. Funding for the station may be eliminated after 2024. Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Trump's budget axes 5 climate change projects from NASA 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Since President Donald Trump took office last year, he's made his viewpoint on climate change clear by reversing Obama-era climate policies, championing fossil fuels and withdrawing from an international climate accord.

And on Monday, he released a $19.9 billion budget proposal for NASA that cut five Earth science projects related to climate change.

Those five projects are:

PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem): Expected to launch in 2022, the mission focuses on studying the consequences of climate change on the health of the world's oceans.

OCO-3 (The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3): already installed on the International Space Station, the project is used to examine carbon dioxide distribution on Earth, with a particular focus on urban populations and fossil fuel combustion patterns.

CLARREO Pathfinder ( The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Pathfinder): expected to launch to the space station in 2021, the mission would measure the energy from the sun that reflects back to Earth in an effort to better understand climate change and "enable sound policy decisions" on the subject.

DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory): launched into space by SpaceX in 2015, this satellite monitors space weather and observes Earth phenomena such as ozone changes, dust and volcanic ash, cloud height and climate. It was originally proposed by Vice President Al Gore in 1998.

RBI (Radiation Budget Instrument): Scheduled for launch in 2021, the mission would measure the effect of clouds on Earth's energy balance, which strongly influences the climate.

The budget proposal, which puts heavy focus on human exploration in space, still must be approved by Congress.

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.