A complex and
ambitious climate study planned by NASA in Southeast Asia has been canceled
after Bangkok refused to approve the project.
A complex and ambitious climate study planned by NASA in
Southeast Asia has been canceled after Bangkok refused to approve the project.
The Southeast
Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study, or SEAC4RS, was
to take to the field in August, pending approval of NASA’s plans by the
government of Thailand where the flights would originate.
It was ultimately canceled as it faced resistance in
Thailand due to its potential military significance.
“On June 26, 2012, NASA cancelled the SEAC4RS mission,
which was scheduled to begin in August 2012, due to the absence of necessary
approvals by regional authorities in the timeframe necessary to support the
mission’s planned deployment and scientific observation window,” said a
statement carried by the NASA website.
Thailand had been chosen for the aircraft base so that
the planes can sample the two big meteorological drivers of the region’s
atmospheric circulation: the summertime monsoon circulation to the west and
marine convection to the east and south that can loft emissions into the
stratosphere.
Researchers had planned to answer many questions about
the atmosphere and the effect pollution had on it. For example, some scientists
believe that Southeast Asia is the primary place where new air is transported
into the stratosphere, and the SEAC4RS study would have investigated this
hypothesis.
According to the Bangkok Post, the Thai
government had planned to send the project proposal to parliament for debate in
August, but it was no longer required since NASA had canceled the project.
U.S. embassy spokeswoman Kristin Kneedler told the Bangkok
Post via email that it was “unfortunate to lose this important
opportunity for NASA and Thai scientists to collaborate to collect data of
scientific importance to not only our two countries but others in the region as
well.”
Kneedler added that some equipment that was en route to
Thailand will be returned to the United States.
——
Source: SEAC4RS.
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