US Top News and Analysis
‘Avatar 2’ soars past ‘Top Gun’ with $1.5 billion to become highest-grossing film of 2022, and it’s already the 10th biggest movie ever
US Top News and Analysis
The U.S. unemployment rate declined overall in December, but rose for Black women and Hispanic men, according to the latest nonfarm payrolls report.
Black women saw unemployment increased to 5.5% last month, up 0.3 percentage points from 5.2% in November, data from the Labor Department showed Friday. Overall, Black employment held steady at 5.7%, while the unemployment rate for Black men actually declined to 5.1% from 5.4% last month.
Meanwhile, Latino men saw unemployment rise to 4% in December, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 3.6% the prior month. The overall unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% from 4.0%. Unemployment among Latino women also ticked up to 3.7% from 3.6%.
Those figures bucked the trend in the broader economy, which showed unemployment in the U.S. fall to 3.5% from 3.7%. It was 0.2 percentage points below consensus expectations from the Dow Jones.
“What we’ve really seen over the course of the last nearly three years since the pandemic hit, is that we’ve regained, in terms of aggregate numbers, all of the jobs lost,” said Michelle Holder, a distinguished senior fellow at Washington Center for Equitable Growth.
“But the sort of industrial mix has changed, and has kind of impacted what we’re seeing with regard to the distribution of joblessness, by gender, race and ethnicity. And it’s really disaffecting Black women and Latinx men,” Holder added.
A stronger-than-expected December jobs report continued to suggest a robust labor market, even as lighter-than-expected wage growth fanned some investor hopes that inflation may be coming down.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 223,000 in December, more than the Dow Jones estimate of 200,000. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings rose 0.3% for the month and gained 4.6% from a year ago. These are compared to estimates of 0.4% and 5% increases.
“The labor market clearly remains strong,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “We are now seeing that the household survey and the payroll survey are showing similar signs of strength, and wage growth is looks to be coming down.”
Still, parts of the economy where Black women are overrepresented showed little improvement, or failed to regain their levels from before the pandemic, according to Holder. Government employment was little changed, adding just 3,000 jobs in December. Notably, state government education employment dropped by 24,000 because of strikes from university employees, according to the Labor Department.
Both Black women and Latino men are well represented in the leisure and hospitality sector, according to Holder. The sector significantly added jobs in December, but remains below its pre-pandemic levels. Employment in the sector rose by 67,000 last month, but is still 932,000, or 5.5%, below what it was in February 2020.
“Those are two industries that have not recovered well during the pandemic,” Holder said. “This is what is constraining Black women’s ability to get back to the state that they were with regard to the American workforce before the pandemic.”
Just In | The Hill
The breathing tube for Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin has been removed, and he is able to speak to his family and medical team, the Bills announced Friday.
The Bills tweeted that physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin has been since he collapsed during Monday night’s game against the Bengals, said his tube was removed overnight.
The team said he is continuing to “progress remarkably” and his neurologic function remains intact.
The Bills also tweeted that Hamlin FaceTimed in during a team meeting on Friday to talk with the players and coaches.
“Love you boys,” he reportedly said.
Hamlin fell to the ground during the first quarter of the Monday Night Football game after tackling a Bills player. He initially got up after the tackle but moments later collapsed.
He needed to be resuscitated on the field and was later taken in an ambulance to the hospital after experiencing cardiac arrest.
The NFL initially postponed the game following the incident and announced on Friday that it would be canceled. It has proposed plans to adjust for how the game’s cancellation could potentially affect playoff positioning.
Players on both teams were visibly shaken after Hamlin received CPR.
Hamlin’s fundraiser that he created to support a toy drive for his community has raised almost $8 million since the game Monday, far surpassing its $2,500 goal. The description on its GoFundMe page notes that the fundraiser received renewed support in light of Hamlin’s “current battle.”
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US Top News and Analysis
Bitcoin’s volatility fell near an all-time low this week, and while the stillness of the price action these past couple months may be welcome, investors may not want it to last forever. Volatility has always been a key characteristic of the cryptocurrency. Lately, some investors have been comforted to see bitcoin react less to volatile macroeconomic events, especially as the stock market stayed highly sensitive to them. On top of that, bitcoin has been relatively stable in the wake of the FTX implosion, aside from an initial decline when the saga first began. That may seem like a good thing for long-term investors and would-be investors. After all, some traders have learned to use bitcoin’s volatility to their advantage. But according to Fidelity Digital Assets’ most recent study on institutional investors, issued in October, half of them said price volatility is in fact the greatest obstacle to investment. However, the low volatility is both a symptom and cause of traders staying out of the market, according to Noelle Acheson, economist and author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter. “This is not great for bitcoin’s outlook in that traders make the market more liquid and more lively, accounting for the bulk of on-chain movements as well as off-chain exchange moves,” she said. “An uptick in bitcoin volatility would, rather than trigger concern, be greeted as a positive sign and would most likely be closely followed by a similar move in spot and derivative trading volumes.” Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, said the drop in volatility is “unsustainable” and likely to reverse. He attributed the change to a substantial decline in leverage in the market and low volumes keeping investors from making large directional bets. According to Coin Metrics, reported open interest in futures contracts, a measure of the current leverage in the crypto market, is the lowest it’s been since early 2021. Sigel also pointed to bitcoin miners who may be selling covered calls in order to monetize profits as much as they can. Bitcoin miners have had a difficult time with the bitcoin price stuck at such low levels. This week it floated around $16,000. With the market so depressed, the cost of mining a bitcoin can be higher than the price of a bitcoin, which is how miners are rewarded for their contributions to the network. For miners, selling their bitcoin to cover mining expenses or to capture greater gains (by selling at a price they consider to be overvalued) is sometimes necessary. Sigel said the volatility dynamic is exacerbated by miners trying to avoid this. Breaking out Lower volatility isn’t necessarily a sign that the asset class is maturing. But, to Sigel’s point, a reversal could be on the horizon. “Each time volatility has been this low, historically, bitcoin prices have bottomed,” said Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital. Thorn said that while seeing lenders and exchanges collapse feels unstable, the crypto market will emerge from this period having significantly matured. For now, however, conditions are stagnant. “Flow is down, we’ve talked to clients that are trading gold instead of crypto right now,” Thorn said, adding a note of optimism. “It’s cyclical, it’ll be back,” he said. “We have seen some large investors that have been doing their homework and sort of felt they had missed the big run-up. They finally have actually come in and allocated because they have long-term conviction.” Tim Rice, co-founder and CEO of crypto market data provider Coin Metrics, said the current low volatility is good for the industry in that it gives skeptical investors an “interesting” entry point. He also said it shows there aren’t very big trends in one direction or the other. Some crypto investors embrace bear markets, known by many as “crypto winters,” thinking of them as episodes that flush out froth from the market and lay the groundwork for the next catalyst that they hope will drive the next rally. Right now, however, any potential innovation within the industry is overshadowed by the Federal Reserve’s unfinished campaign to raise interest rates. “Risk in general is just sitting and waiting on monetary policy,” Thorn said. “There’s plenty of reason and there will be plenty of catalysts for a decoupling [from stocks] to happen but really everybody’s just sitting on their hands trying to figure out where this thing is turning,” Thorn added.
TheStreet
This year cruise fans can get down with 311, get serenaded by Jeff Tweedy, or kick it with wrestling legend Jericho.
If you have a thing, rest assured there’s a cruise ship catered to that thing.
Recreational sailing began, more or less, in 1901 with the Prinzessin Victoria Luise. But cruise ships really began to take off as a pastime in the 1960s and ‘70s with the launch of what’s now called the Norwegian Cruise Line in 1966 (NCLH) – Get Free Report and Carnival Cruise Line in 1972.
At first, cruise lines were more of a regional business, with small businesses running ships out of, say, Florida ports. But as companies such as Norwegian grew, they began to form a national identity, and also began competing for new customers.
One challenge any brand or product has is not just to get potential clients to switch to you from a competitor, but to get people who would never even consider using your product to give it a try.
While this idea has certainly changed in the past ten years or so, for a while there was an assumption that cruise ships were either for retirees or people with a lot of disposable income.
These are not a bad thing to be, per se, but until somewhat recently you weren’t likely to see many college kids taking a cruise on Spring Break, or many thirtysomethings availing themselves of the pleasures of Royal Caribbean.
But in order to counteract the assumptions many younger people had about cruise ships (basically, that they weren’t for them), the industry began to reach out to them with some smart partnerships.
These days, you can probably find a cruise ship for whatever interest you like. Are you kind of emo? Well, then get yourself to Coheed and Cambria’s cruise series S.S. Neverender – Raiders Of Silent Earth:3 this October. Do you want to hang out with Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, mediate with Oprah or learn about the magic of GOOP and all things Wellness with Gwyneth Paltrow? Well, there are ships for all of that as well.
But the cruise line industry is like a shark, in that it must always move forward. (Though the cruise line industry would like to make it clear that you never have to worry about sharks while you are cruising.)
So if you still haven’t given the high seas a shot yet, Norwegian and the promotions company Sixthman are doing their best to convince you to give it a shot.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Norwegian has partnered with Sixthman, a promotions company that specializes in theme cruises and vacations and has put together specialty sailings for Weezer, Paramore, and KISS, amongst many others.
The two parties have announced this year’s “Experiences at Sea,” a series of 13 events. Whether you want to hang out with a wrestling legend, rock out ‘90s radio kings, or (checks notes) earn a Certified Nurse Educator credit, there truly is something for everyone this year.
Cruise Perfect (Jan. 20 –23) Miami to Nassau, Bahamas – The five dudes from the comedy troupe Dude Perfect will host a family friend bro down full of sports comedy hijinks.The Rock Boat XXII (Jan 23. – 28) Miami to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Nassau, Bahamas – ’90s radio will sail on, featuring headliners Sister Hazel and more than 30 acts from Need to Breathe, Neon Trees, American Authors, the worst enemies of Lit. On the Blue (Jan. 28 – Feb. 2) Miami to Harvest Caye, Belize to Costa Maya, Mexico – Hosted by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, who always seems to be at sea, it’s all the classic rock you can ever need.Chris Jericho’s Rock N Wrestling Rager at Sea (Feb. 2 – 6) Miami to Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas – If wrestling legend Chris Jericho is hosting and bringing Quiet Riot and his band Fozzy along, you are all but guaranteed to wake up with a hangover.
Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Nursecon at Sea (Feb. 6 – 10) Miami to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic – Cruises can still be wholesome, as the Ultimate Nursing Conference will provide attendees with the perfect blend of fun and professional learning, including accredited CNE courses.Cayamo 15 (Feb. 10 – 17) Miami to Philipsburg, St. Maarten, and Tortola, British Virgin Islands – Guests will celebrate the 15th anniversary of this Americana journey through song with over 40 artists, featuring Jeff Tweedy, Andrew Bird, Trampled by Turtles, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Patty Griffin, Neko Case, Shovels & Rope and many more.Sail Across the Sun (Feb. 17 – 21) Miami to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic – Train will drop some jupiter on guests, and will be joined by Fitz and the Tantrums, G. Love & Special Sauce, and Nick Swardson.Outlaw Country Cruise 7 (Feb. 21 – 27) Miami to Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas to Cozumel, Mexico – More than 40 country legends will set sail, featuring The Mavericks, John Anderson, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle & The Dukes, and more.The Friendship (Feb. 27- March 3) Miami to Nassau, Bahamas to Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas – Hosted by All My Friends and Gary Richards, the yet-to-be-announced line-up will drop all the beats you can handle.The Beach Boys Cruise (March 3 – 8) Miami to Harvest Caye, Belize to Costa Maya, Mexico – The Beach Boys will be joined by The Isley Brothers, The Temptations, The Righteous Brothers, and, somehow, Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath. 311 Caribbean Cruise 7 (March 8 – 13) Miami to Harvest Caye, Belize to Roatan, Honduras – Celebrate 311 day, and give thanks to all the alt-rockers have brought to our lives. And then stick around for Arrested Development, G. Love & Special Sauce, Less Than Jake, and more.Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea VIII (March 13 – 17) Miami to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic – Joe Bonamassa will host a celebration of blues legends such as Little Feat, Dion, Bobby Rush, Robert Randolph Band, and more.Atlantis (March 17 – 27) Miami to Key West to Cozumel, Mexico to Harvest Caye, Belize to Colon, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia to Georgetown, Grand Cayman – Each Atlantis cruise offers “a carefree experience for the gay community based around friendship, camaraderie, relaxation, indulgence, adventure, and pure uninhibited fun.”Plus: The Broadway Cruise (March 31 – April 5) New York City to Bermuda on Norwegian Gem – The Great White Way is getting all wet, featuring performances from Tony-Award winners Laura Benanti, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, and more, plus panels and activities.
USA – Voice of America
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday the U.S. added 223,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent.
In its monthly report, the bureau said notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, health care, construction, and social assistance. The report said the unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent since March.
The report shows modest gains in wages during December, rising by just 0.3 percent, Over the past 12 months, wages rose by an average of 4.6 percent. The slowing of wage growth is good news because the U.S. Federal Reserve uses it as a barometer for inflation and has been raising interest rates to slow both job and wage growth.
A slowing of the economy could mean fewer and smaller interest rate increases in the coming months.
U.S. stock markets reacted positively to the news. Dow futures were up more than 100 points following the jobs release.
In the report, the bureau also announced that total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised down by 21,000, from 284,000 to 263,000 new jobs and the change for November was revised down by 7,000, from 263,000 to 256,000 new jobs.
With those revisions, combined employment gains in October and November were
28,000 lower than previously reported.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
Just In | The Hill
The Biden administration on Friday issued new sanctions targeting Iranian drone and missile production, seeking to disrupt the flow of weapons Tehran is providing Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
“Iran has now become Russia’s top military backer,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Iran must cease its support for Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and delay these transfers and impose costs on actors engaged in this activity.”
The U.S. blacklisted seven individuals in leadership positions with the Qods Aviation Industries, an Iranian defense manufacturer responsible for the design and production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, Blinken continued.
The individuals sanctioned include the director of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), the primary organization responsible for overseeing Iran’s ballistic missile programs, the statement read. The U.S. also added AIO itself to its sanctions list.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that Russia’s reliance on Iran signals how sanctions from a U.S.-led coalition are severing its ability to replace weapons lost on the battlefield.
“The Kremlin’s reliance on suppliers of last resort like Iran shows their desperation…” Yellen said.
“The United States will act swiftly against individuals and entities supporting Iran’s UAV and ballistic missile programs and will stand resolutely in support of the people of Ukraine.”
The sanctions block any assets held by the individuals in the U.S., as well as any entities in the U.S. that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by any of the blocked persons.
The sanctions generally prohibit Americans or any person within the U.S. from dealing with individuals, including transactions transiting through the U.S. Further, any persons that engage in certain transactions with blacklisted individuals or entities risk being exposed to sanctions themselves.
The new designations add to previous sanctions targeting Iran’s weapons industry, announced in September, November and December.
Russia in recent months began attacking Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed- and Mohajer-series UAVs, explosive-laden drones.
Russia’s so-called Kamikaze drones have been put to devastating effect in Ukraine, used to destroy critical infrastructure while also hitting residential buildings and other civilian areas.
Russia has used these drones in concert with missiles, overloading Ukrainian air defenses to break through them.
Biden administration officials have warned that Iran is considering sending ballistic missiles to Russia, but has not said if Tehran has decided to follow through with such a move.
Still, the U.S. says that the drone shipments to Russia violates United Nations Security Council resolution 2231, the resolution which enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and that laid out terms that Tehran must receive approval from the U.N. Security Council before engaging in transfers of military supplies.
The U.N. Security Council, however, is unlikely to take any action against Iran given Russia’s veto power.
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US Top News and Analysis
NFL safety Damar Hamlin’s breathing tube was removed and he FaceTimed into a meeting telling his teammates, “Love you boys,” as he continued his recovery after suffering a terrifying cardiac arrest during Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, according to the Buffalo Bills.
The team tweeted Friday about Hamlin’s medical progress.
“Per the physicians at UCMC, Damar’s breathing tube was removed overnight. He continues to progress remarkably in his recovery. His neurologic function remains intact and he has been able to talk to his family and care team,” one tweet read.
Another statement from the team mentioned his interaction with his teammates.
“Damar Hamlin FaceTimed into our team meeting today to talk to players and coaches. What he said to the team: ‘Love you boys.'” The Bills’ tweet was punctuated by a heart emoji.
More from NBC News:
Bills-Bengals game postponed after Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest won’t be made up, NFL saysWitnesses say shooting that injured 10 in Miami area happened as rapper French Montana filmed videoShootings reported at homes, workplace of 4 New Mexico politicians
Hamlin’s collapse, watched by millions, occurred just after he tackled a Bengals receiver. It appeared that the receiver’s shoulder struck Hamlin in the chest.
It remains unclear what exactly caused Hamlin’s cardiac arrest. One possibility is a phenomenon called “commotio cordis.”
“Commotio cordis is an incredibly rare event,” Dr. William Knight, professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, said Thursday. “It’s a diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning other conditions have to be ruled out before it can be determined definitively.
“It is on the list of considerations,” said Knight, who is part of a group of physicians treating Hamlin.
Normally, the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body about every second. There is a rhythm to the process, keeping the blood flowing at a healthy pace. Every time the heart beats, there is a tiny moment — less than a fifth of a second — that makes it vulnerable to the force of a projectile that can lead to a chaotic and potentially deadly heart rhythm.
It is in this exact moment, experts say, that a blow to the chest in the exact right place can launch an otherwise healthy person into cardiac arrest. The heart’s electrical system malfunctions, and the heartbeat rhythm goes haywire.
It is too early, Hamlin’s doctors say, to determine whether he might return to professional football. There is a concern that Hamlin may have inhaled fluid or blood, potentially causing problems with lung function.
Upon regaining consciousness, Hamlin, 24, asked: “Did we win?,” his doctors said Thursday.
“The answer is yes,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, division chief of general surgery at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, told Hamlin. “You won the game of life.”
The NFL announced late Thursday the game that was postponed following Hamlin’s collapse on the field will not be made up.
The league acknowledged that canceling the game “creates potential competitive inequities in certain playoff scenarios” and said NFL clubs will consider a resolution at a special league meeting Friday.
Part of that resolution could involve the Jan. 29 AFC Championship Game being played at a neutral site.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in Thursday’s statement that it has been “a very difficult week” and that the league is focused on Hamlin’s recovery.
— Erika Edwards, David K. Li and Phil Helsel contributed.
TheStreet
The retailer has already closed its brick-and-mortar bookstores, and 4-Star stores, and now its grocery chain and voice assistant appear at risk.
It’s no longer day one at Amazon (AMZN) – Get Free Report.
The e-retail giant, which has always focused on the long term, not the next quarter’s earnings, has clearly dropped that philosophy.
Chief Executive Andy Jassy hasn’t directly said that, but he has decided to gut the stores division, the group responsible for building out its brick-and-mortar presence.
Amazon has also made major cuts in its People, Experience, and Technology, or PXT, group, essentially a broad vision of a human-resources department, which had a mission “to turn Amazon into Earth’s best employer.”
Jassy commented on the cuts in a blog post.
“Between the reductions, we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles. Several teams are impacted; however, the majority of role eliminations are in our Amazon Stores and PXT organizations,” he wrote.
Amazon
Building out a national brick-and-mortar presence was never going to be easy. It’s expensive, slow, and highly competitive. In fact, it’s hard to think of another company that could even consider building a nationwide network of grocery and convenience stores.
To build out a nationwide mix of Amazon Fresh grocery stores and Amazon Go convenience stores, the company would have had to commit billions in capital expense over years. That means multiple quarters of smaller profits and even losses — something Jeff Bezos was willing to do and Jassy is not.
The problem, and it’s a damning one for Amazon’s future, is that building this store network makes sense for the retailer.
The online retailer has buying power that’s rivaled only by Walmart (WMT) – Get Free Report, Costco COST, and Target (TGT) – Get Free Report. If it had physical stores across the country, it could offer groceries cheaper than regional chains do and leverage those buildings for its delivery business.
Amazon’s entire business model has been about investing where other companies can’t afford to. That has given it a long-term logistics advantage that Walmart has spent billions to duplicate and really no other company has been able to equal.
These cuts may help Amazon’s next few quarters, but they won’t pay off the way investment would have.
While retail stores likely would pay off for Amazon, its investment in owning your living room has not paid off. The point of Echo devices and the Alexa artificial-intelligence voice assistant was supposed to facilitate people ordering more items from the online retailer.
That has not happened, and Echo/Alexa has largely been a failure that loses billions of dollars for Amazon. These devices have a lot of uses. Echos can play music and podcasts and help with home automation, and they have been very valuable for people with certain disabilities.
But for Amazon these devices have not accomplished what the company wanted them to. That makes Amazon very likely to quietly stop investing in Alexa and scale back the Echo line’s aspirations.
What’s not likely is that Amazon fully kills Alexa or Echo devices, but it could just make them high-quality home-automation hubs/voice-controlled speakers.
If that happened, it might make sense for the retailer to charge more for the loss-leader devices, but perhaps it could achieve profitability at current prices if it slashed investment.
WASHINGTON — NASA will allow three aging Earth science missions to participate in an upcoming senior review of extended missions even as the agency warns of budget pressures on its overall portfolio of missions.
During a town hall Dec. 15 at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, NASA officials said they agency had invited the Aqua, Aura and Terra missions to submit proposals in the 2023 senior review of Earth science missions that are in their extended phases.
The three spacecraft, launched between 1999 and 2004, remain functional but are running low on stationkeeping propellant. The spacecraft have started to drift from their original operational orbits, which prompted concerns about impacts on the science they can perform and data continuity.
Julie Robinson, deputy director of NASA’s Earth science division, said the agency collected feedback about those missions through a request for information and a virtual workshop in November attended by more than 500 people. “One outcome of that is that Terra, Aqua and Aura will be invited to the senior review,” she said. In a senior review, missions that have completed their original prime missions make the case for continued funding to extend their missions.
Being invited to the senior review, though, is no guarantee that the missions will be able to secure funding. Robinson said the upcoming senior review will be particularly challenging given limited funding available for mission extensions.
“The senior review is not going to be an easy one this year,” she said. “We don’t have the money in the budget to extend every mission that comes to the senior review.” The agency will ask the panel that reviews the mission to advise it on various trades it can make among the missions.
NASA requested more than $2.4 billion for Earth science in its fiscal year 2023 budget proposal. However, the omnibus spending bill enacted in late December provided just under $2.2 billion for Earth science. While that is an increase of $130 million from 2022, it comes as NASA is ramping up work on its line of Earth System Observatory missions and other projects.
At the town hall, one scientist said it was “pretty shocking” that NASA would even consider not extending those three missions given their performance and the community of researchers using data from them. Robinson again turned to financial challenges facing the overall Earth science program.
“In the case of Terra, Aqua and Aura, one of the challenges we have is that these systems, because they’ve been operating so long, they’re really expensive,” she said. NASA’s fiscal year 2023 budget request projected spending $30.7 million each on operations of Terra and Aqua and $20.5 million on Aura. One part of the senior review will be to look at reducing those operating costs, but she did offer an estimate of the range of potential reductions.
Those efforts come as NASA grapples with potential cost increases with the Earth System Observatory, notably the Atmosphere Observing System (AOS). An independent review found that AOS as currently designed is likely to cost $2.4 billion, $500 million more than NASA’s own estimate. That could force NASA to scale back or replace two AOS instruments.
“There are really painful trades in Earth System Observatory. There are also painful trades in deciding how much money to put on extended missions and how to operate them,” she said. “I can promise we will never make everybody happy with those trades.”
