Even Spaceflight Will Be Impacted By Sea Level Rise

Sea degree rise is n’t just a problem for coastal city , it ’s a trouble for NASA . Two thirds of the space agency ’s substructure , including the Kennedy Space Center , the Ames Research Center , and the Johnson Space Center stand between 5 and 40 feet ( 2 to 12 meters ) above entail sea grade . By the last of the one C , 1000000000 of dollars of NASA assets could be subaqueous .

Launch Pad 39 B at NASA ’s Kennedy Space Center

worldwide mean sea stratum has risen 8 inches since 1870 , and the pace of rise has duplicate over the past few decennium . A few week back , a squad of mood scientists announced that the Earth is probablylocked into ‘ at least ’ three feet of ocean level risedue to melting icecaps and thermal expansion of ocean H2O as our planet fire up up . NASA , which happens to be conducting much of this authoritative ocean level rise research in - family , is naturally quite curious ( and disquieted ) about how these trend will impact spaceflight and its scientific research laboratory .

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The map below , released along with adetailed NASA characteristic clause , show the regions around NASA infinite centers ( in red ) that would be inundated by 12 inches ( 30 atomic number 96 ) of ocean level rise . According to NASA , all of its coastal centers ( testify on the map of the continental US below ) are projected to have at least five inches of sea level cost increase between now and 2050 .

Projected amounts of sea horizontal surface rise around coastal NASA facility

NASA installation across the United States

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There ’s a good reasonableness that NASA build so much of its base along coastlines : It ’s the secure station to launch rockets from . The US governance decided long ago that it would much rather have a rocket salad fail over the sea than over a densely populated metropolitan region . Seems wise .

But that well - intentioned decision has created some stark realities in the era of speedy mood change . For one , the only facility in the country that can plunge crewed flight of stairs — NASA ’s famed Kennedy Space Center in Florida — has determine itself forthwith in the line of fire . Historical records and aerial photos indicate that the beach in front of Kennedy has melt off and move inland by more or less 200 foot ( 60 m ) since the facility opened in 1961 . Other launching centers , including the Wallops Flight Facility in coastal Virginia , have spent the last few years watching their beach fret into the ocean in the wake of several enceinte hurricanes .

Aerial view of the Kennedy Space Center and next launching facilities using Landsat data from theU.S. Geological Survey

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Of course , NASA does n’t just design to posture by as precious and one - of - a - kind facilities go submerged . The place agency’sClimate Adaptation Science Investigators Working Groupis busy translating outside mood account , such as those published by theIPCC , into regional - scale projections and advice for individual NASA quickness . Moving forward , NASA scientist and director will redouble their efforts to form with metropolis and state officials to fortify coastlines . In some places , the answer will be smarter building , in others , retrofitting and hardening old infrastructure . Launch facilities that must remain shoreside will need to begin accounting for costly beach replenishment and seawall repair as part of their routine maintenance .

But if the worst - case sea floor rise scenarios come to travel by , NASA scientists — like many other coastal population — may simply have to accept the inevitable , carry their bags and move inland .

[ NASA Earth Observatory ]

Photo: Jae C. Hong