QUESTION:
Why shouldn't we spend more of our time studying the Earth from space?

ANSWER from Maynard Hine on January 30, 1996
In all endeavors, there must be a proper balance.  Because it was
relatively easy we first studied the Earth, on the ground, then from the
air and finally from beyond the atmosphere of Earth.  There is no question
that these investigations have been very fruitful to our understanding of
the Earth, however, it has still left many unanswered questions.  These
questions can only be answered with a better understanding of the Solar
System we live in.  The Earth is not an entity in itself.  The Sun and the
other planets provide both forces and energy to the Earth.  The Earth's
Moon as you know provides forces on the Earth which affect the Oceans
tides.  The evolution of the atmospheres of the planets, which includes
the Earth, is very important to understand in making intelligent decisions
concerning our planet.  As an example, the holes in the ozone layer, are
they created by actions of man or are they natural phenomenon that we
really have no control over?  By studying the atmospheric planets that are
void of human intervention we hope to better understand this.  Is global
warming another natural phenomenon or are we doing something to accelerate
this?  The recent entry of the Galileo Probe into the Jovian atmosphere is
a good example of the importance of planetary research.  Scientist
approach their work by developing theories and models which seem to fit
the data they have.  Since the data they had for the Jovian atmosphere was
previously based upon their experience on Earth and a small amount from
previous space missions, non of which actually went into the atmosphere,
we found that this new actual data did not fit their theories exactly and
they are now having to rethink their model.  The descent probe's
measurements may necessitate a reevaluation of existing views of how
Jupiter evolved from the solar nebula.  For example, the lower than
expected helium and neon levels on Jupiter, relative to the Sun, influence
scientific understanding of the process of fractionation, the "raining
out" of helium and neon during planetary evolution.  There are a number of
other findings that do not fit our previous models but this is given only
as an example of the need to understand the sources of energy, the
distribution of elements and where they came from in our Solar system in
order to really understand our own planet.  We may find that the present
theories affecting the Earth's atmosphere and environment may also have to
be altered by these new discoveries. 

This is not meant to downplay the worth of Earth orbiting laboratories,
however, their worth is not in understanding the Solar system or even
Earth as much as to study means of men surviving in space for extended
periods of time and to use the vacuum and lack of atmosphere and gravity
to conduct experiments which would be difficult if not impossible on
Earth. 

Both types of programs are very important to our future on Earth.  We
cannot afford to play one against the other.