According to a 2017 interview with Kevin Murphy, Earth Science Data Systems Program Executive at NASA, the biggest challenge now is not going where no man has gone before, but managing the data.

Murphy states that as of 2016, 12.1TB of data stream in from observation posts and sensors on terra firma as well as out in space on a daily basis and is projected to increase to 24TB per day as better tools come to the fore. In addition, the archives already contain 24PB (petabyte = 1,000TB) of data, projected to grow to 150PB by 2023. Within these data streams is information that has significant importance in the earth sciences, space exploration, and potential resources and threats.