But many commentators expect its instruments to start to fail in the harsh space environment several years before its successor, a satellite called JPSS-1, can be launched to take over observation duties.
There could also be risks as surgeons may be asked to operate in an environment which they are not familiar - for example using different instruments to provide the lay audience with a better view or having to work to a broadcast schedule which results in their patient may be anaesthetised longer than normal.
To achieve "attractive" yields in typical yield-bearing instruments (i.e. fixed income) in today's environment, one must generally take on a level of credit risk that essentially shifts the risk profile of that investment more toward the equity spectrum.
The overall goal of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission is to use 10 instruments on Curiosity to assess whether areas inside Gale Crater ever offered a habitable environment for microbes.
Clearly companies like Comcast and GE, are mindful of that reality in an environment where investors look to the equity market for yield due to the paltry rates on many fixed-income instruments like U.S. Treasuries.