The 2007 National Research Council’s Decadal Survey in Earth science recommended that NASA maintain a line of competitively selected investigations in the Earth Venture (EV) mission portfolio. The Earth Venture element has been implemented in the broader context of NASA’s Earth science program and has resulted in more frequent flight opportunities than afforded by the strategic and directed missions outlined in the decadal survey. The following foci have been identified for the Earth Venture-class missions:
● Measurement and observation innovations;
● Demonstration of innovative ideas allowing the use of existing moderately higherrisk technologies or approaches;
● Establishment of new research avenues; and
● Demonstration of key application-oriented measurements.
Deadlines:
- Required Step-1 Proposal: Sep. 18, 2025
- Step-2 Proposal: Nov. 13, 2025
PREFIRE
The NASA Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE, L’Ecuyer et al., 2021) aims to reduce uncertainties in polar energy fluxes and the processes driving them, providing essential data to improve projections of polar climate change and its impacts on polar communities and beyond. The PREFIRE mission was selected under the 4th Earth Venture-Instrument (EVI-4) Announcement of Opportunity.
TROPICS
The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission is a constellation of state-of-the-science observing platforms that measures temperature and humidity soundings and precipitation with spatial resolution comparable to current operational passive microwave sounders but with unprecedented temporal resolution (i.e., median revisit time of 60 minutes). The TROPICS mission was selected under the 3rd Earth Venture Instrument (EVI-3) Announcement of Opportunity.