Abstract: NASA Administrator Robert Frosch, an oceanographer, saw the value of satellite observations and directed his agency to build a program for ocean satellites with research as a purpose. W. Stanley Wilson, an oceanographer and bureaucratic entrepreneur, joined NASA to create such a program (Seasat was seen as a technology demonstration only). This chapter details what and how Wilson built an ocean program. At NASA Administrator James Beggs’ insistence, he acquired a research and development partner (France’s space agency, Centre national d’études spatiales, CNES). They promoted a new satellite, TOPEX/Poseidon. One reason it took so long to go from Seasat to the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992 was rivalry between Wilson and Shelby Tilford, who headed a higher agency priority, the Earth Observation System (EOS). Tilford wanted the ocean and Wilson as part of EOS. Wilson wanted autonomy. Tilford won and Wilson departed before TOPEX/Poseidon launched.
Publication Year: 2023
Publication Date: 2023-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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