The 'Earth Science Decadal Survey', titled "Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond," was released just a few days ago. It is available at:http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11820.html. One surprising finding is a projected decline in the number of missions and instruments that will be studying Earth science. The decline will be about 30% from the peak number of missions in 2006 to the number of missions in 2008.