Ernie J. Shannon
Goddard Space Flight Center				July 27,  1995
Greenbelt, Md
(Phone: 301/286-6256)
Ernie.Shannon@cc:mail.gsfc.nasa.gov


RELEASE NO. 95-121


EOSDIS RIBBON CUTTING SCHEDULED AT GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Ribbon cutting ceremonies for the new Earth Observing System Data 
and Information System (EOSDIS) building at the NASA Goddard Space 
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., are scheduled for July 28. The 
EOSDIS facility will play a key role in NASA’s Mission to Planet 
Earth program in which Goddard has a significant management role.
	
The ceremony officially opening the building for business begins at 
10 a.m. with brief remarks from NASA officials and Maryland public 
office holders .

EOSDIS is one of the largest and most complex civilian data 
information systems ever built. It will manage nearly one 
trillion bytes of new data per day generated by the Earth 
Observing System program. EOSDIS will enable the science 
research community quick and easy access to data about the 
Earth system.

Within the Earth Observing System program, NASA will launch a 
series of unmanned spacecraft equipped with remote-sensing 
instruments during a 15-year period. The data from the 
instruments will be collected at EOSDIS. The scientific 	
community will have access to this broad range of global change 
information. The Earth Observation System features a series of 
polar-orbiting and low-inclination satellites for long-term 
global observations of the land, atmosphere and oceans.
	
The Goddard facility will be used as a data compilation center 
for spacecraft dedicated to EOS, which is the biggest segment of 
Mission to Planet Earth, as well as for other data sources for the 
Mission to Planet Earth program.  It has the largest Data Active 
Archiving Center and is the nerve center for all real-time EOS 
operations. In addition to compiling data, EOSDIS will process, 
archive and distribute the data to scientists around the world. 
It will also serve as a command and control center for EOS 
spacecraft.

The data retrieved from EOSDIS will serve as the basis for studies 
by 28 EOS interdisciplinary investigation teams established by NASA. The teams will develop a quantitative understanding of the processes which govern the climate of Earth and to incorporate that knowledge into predictive models which can serve as the basis for policy decisions.

The building has approximately 190,000 square feet of office and 
data processing/archiving space to house state-of-the-art equipment 
and will be staffed by up to 900 personnel working on a five-shift, 
24-hour a day, 365-days-a-year basis. 
	
The Mission to Planet Earth program uses the unique perspective 
from space to allow humans to better understand environmental 
changes and to distinguish between natural and human-induced 
changes. 

Editor’s Note: A tour of the new EOSDIS facility will be 
available to the media following the ribbon cutting ceremony.