Want Earth’s Climate Data to Stay Unbroken? Meet the NASA Intern Building Mission Foresight

Hampton, Virginia, Source :

Imagine you could look ahead and see exactly where a satellite mission might stumble, and have a plan ready before the first hiccup. That is what Lindsey Jacobson helps NASA do every day. Her work gives Earth science missions something close to foresight.

As a Pathways intern with NASA’s Earth Science Division, Jacobson builds analysis tools that help mission planners spot possible changes in the agency’s fleet of Earth observing satellites. The goal is simple. Avoid gaps in the data that scientists, forecasters, and operational users depend on. She works with the NESSIE team at Langley Research Center, where engineering, strategy, and operational planning come together.

Since 2022, Jacobson has returned to Langley every summer while finishing her mechanical engineering dissertation at North Carolina State University. NASA’s Pathways program gives students a direct route into full time civil service roles. Her work feeds into real decisions that shape the future of Earth observation.

Why does this matter? NASA’s satellites track aerosols, sea levels, land cover, cloud cover, and dozens of other features over years and decades. These measurements sustain the climate records that people around the world rely on. Satellites have finite lives. Launch schedules can shift. An on orbit anomaly can change a mission’s timeline. Jacobson and the NESSIE team help senior leaders see where those changes may create data gaps, and what options can keep recordings steady.

“There’s uncertainty about mission lifetimes and what could happen on orbit, and about schedules,” Jacobson says. The team turns that uncertainty into strategy. They model possible futures, assess the consequences, and propose alternatives for maintaining data flow. Think of it like preparing for hurricane season. You put up storm shutters and stack sandbags before the warning arrives. That way there is no scramble. For NASA’s portfolio, the same logic means understanding what a change would mean ahead of time and having responses ready.

This approach mirrors her graduate research on complex infrastructure systems like the electric grid. The grid cannot be torn down and rebuilt. It must be modified, expanded, and improved over time. NASA’s satellite portfolio works the same way. Every mission is part of a larger, interdependent system. That system has to evolve deliberately.

Jacobson presented NESSIE’s work at the 2025 IEEE Aerospace Conference. She shared methods for managing Earth observing mission portfolios under uncertainty. The fastest changing part of her role is the landscape of Earth science itself, even more than the code she writes. Commercial companies are contributing more data. New space agencies are emerging. Innovative architectures appear constantly. “The way we do Earth science is changing,” she says. NASA must keep pace to serve the communities that rely on its data.

Adaptability is part of Langley’s culture. “Langley has done a lot of firsts,” Jacobson says, echoing Director Trina Dyal. That tradition includes learning new tools such as AI and integrating them into everyday work. For Jacobson, the larger mission stays the same. Build foresight, reduce risk, and make sure Earth science data continues to benefit humanity.