An artist’s representation of GeoCarb studying carbon gases above Earth
In the case of NASA’s GeoCarb mission, some good things must end before they really begin. NASA has cancelled the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory (GeoCarb), a collaboration with the University of Oklahoma and Lockheed Martin that intended to put a greenhouse gas– monitoring satellite into geostationary orbit. GeoCarb would have measured levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane in the atmosphere about 4 million times per day. The mission was selected by NASA in 2016. “Decisions like this are difficult, but NASA is dedicated to making careful choices,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science. “We look forward to accomplishing our commitment to state-of-the-art climate observation in a more efficient and cost-effective way.”