TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 SN - DO - 10.17226/13117 PY - 2011 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13117/vision-and-voyages-for-planetary-science-in-the-decade-2013-2022 PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Space and Aeronautics AB - In recent years, planetary science has seen a tremendous growth in new knowledge. Deposits of water ice exist at the Moon's poles. Discoveries on the surface of Mars point to an early warm wet climate, and perhaps conditions under which life could have emerged. Liquid methane rain falls on Saturn's moon Titan, creating rivers, lakes, and geologic landscapes with uncanny resemblances to Earth's. Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 surveys the current state of knowledge of the solar system and recommends a suite of planetary science flagship missions for the decade 2013-2022 that could provide a steady stream of important new discoveries about the solar system. Research priorities defined in the report were selected through a rigorous review that included input from five expert panels. NASA's highest priority large mission should be the Mars Astrobiology Explorer Cacher (MAX-C), a mission to Mars that could help determine whether the planet ever supported life and could also help answer questions about its geologic and climatic history. Other projects should include a mission to Jupiter's icy moon Europa and its subsurface ocean, and the Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission to investigate that planet's interior structure, atmosphere, and composition. For medium-size missions, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 recommends that NASA select two new missions to be included in its New Frontiers program, which explores the solar system with frequent, mid-size spacecraft missions. If NASA cannot stay within budget for any of these proposed flagship projects, it should focus on smaller, less expensive missions first. Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 suggests that the National Science Foundation expand its funding for existing laboratories and establish new facilities as needed. It also recommends that the program enlist the participation of international partners. This report is a vital resource for government agencies supporting space science, the planetary science community, and the public. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond SN - DO - 10.17226/11820 PY - 2007 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11820/earth-science-and-applications-from-space-national-imperatives-for-the PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Space and Aeronautics AB - Natural and human-induced changes in Earth's interior, land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans affect all aspects of life. Understanding these changes requires a range of observations acquired from land-, sea-, air-, and space-based platforms. To assist NASA, NOAA, and USGS in developing these tools, the NRC was asked to carry out a "decadal strategy" survey of Earth science and applications from space that would develop the key scientific questions on which to focus Earth and environmental observations in the period 2005-2015 and beyond, and present a prioritized list of space programs, missions, and supporting activities to address these questions. This report presents a vision for the Earth science program; an analysis of the existing Earth Observing System and recommendations to help restore its capabilities; an assessment of and recommendations for new observations and missions for the next decade; an examination of and recommendations for effective application of those observations; and an analysis of how best to sustain that observation and applications system. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine A2 - Joseph R. Schmitt TI - Searching for Life Across Space and Time: Proceedings of a Workshop SN - DO - 10.17226/24860 PY - 2017 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24860/searching-for-life-across-space-and-time-proceedings-of-a PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Space and Aeronautics AB - The search for life is one of the most active fields in space science and involves a wide variety of scientific disciplines, including planetary science, astronomy and astrophysics, chemistry, biology, chemistry, and geoscience. In December 2016, the Space Studies Board hosted a workshop to explore the possibility of habitable environments in the solar system and in exoplanets, techniques for detecting life, and the instrumentation used. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Preparing for the High Frontier: The Role and Training of NASA Astronauts in the Post-Space Shuttle Era SN - DO - 10.17226/13227 PY - 2011 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13227/preparing-for-the-high-frontier-the-role-and-training-of PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Space and Aeronautics AB - As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) retires the Space Shuttle and shifts involvement in International Space Station (ISS) operations, changes in the role and requirements of NASA's Astronaut Corps will take place. At the request of NASA, the National Research Council (NRC) addressed three main questions about these changes: what should be the role and size of Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD); what will be the requirements of astronaut training facilities; and is the Astronaut Corps' fleet of training aircraft a cost-effective means of preparing astronauts for NASA's spaceflight program? This report presents an assessment of several issues driven by these questions. This report does not address explicitly the future of human spaceflight. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System SN - DO - 10.17226/21722 PY - 2015 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/21722/optimizing-the-us-ground-based-optical-and-infrared-astronomy-system PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Space and Aeronautics AB - New astronomical facilities, such as the under-construction Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and planned 30-meter-class telescopes, and new instrumentation on existing optical and infrared (OIR) telescopes, hold the promise of groundbreaking research and discovery. How can we extract the best science from these and other astronomical facilities in an era of potentially flat federal budgets for both the facilities and the research grants? Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System provides guidance for these new programs that align with the scientific priorities and the conclusions and recommendations of two National Research Council (NRC) decadal surveys, New Worlds, New Horizons for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Vision and Voyages for Planetary Sciences in the Decade 2013-2022, as well as other NRC reports. This report describes a vision for a U.S. OIR System that includes a telescope time exchange designed to enhance science return by broadening access to capabilities for a diverse community, an ongoing planning process to identify and construct next generation capabilities to realize decadal science priorities, and near-term critical coordination, planning, and instrumentation needed to usher in the era of LSST and giant telescopes. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine TI - Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions SN - DO - 10.17226/24857 PY - 2017 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24857/powering-science-nasas-large-strategic-science-missions PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Space and Aeronautics AB - NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) currently operates over five dozen missions, with approximately two dozen additional missions in development. These missions span the scientific fields associated with SMD's four divisions—Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Sciences. Because a single mission can consist of multiple spacecraft, NASA-SMD is responsible for nearly 100 operational spacecraft. The most high profile of these are the large strategic missions, often referred to as "flagships." Large strategic missions are essential to maintaining the global leadership of the United States in space exploration and in science because only the United States has the budget, technology, and trained personnel in multiple scientific fields to conduct missions that attract a range of international partners. This report examines the role of large, strategic missions within a balanced program across NASA-SMD space and Earth sciences programs. It considers the role and scientific productivity of such missions in advancing science, technology and the long-term health of the field, and provides guidance that NASA can use to help set the priority of larger missions within a properly balanced program containing a range of mission classes. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine TI - Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s SN - DO - 10.17226/26141 PY - 2023 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26141/pathways-to-discovery-in-astronomy-and-astrophysics-for-the-2020s PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Space and Aeronautics AB - We live in a time of extraordinary discovery and progress in astronomy and astrophysics. The next decade will transform our understanding of the universe and humanity's place in it. Every decade the U.S. agencies that provide primary federal funding for astronomy and astrophysics request a survey to assess the status of, and opportunities for the Nation's efforts to forward our understanding of the cosmos. Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s identifies the most compelling science goals and presents an ambitious program of ground- and space-based activities for future investment in the next decade and beyond. The decadal survey identifies three important science themes for the next decade aimed at investigating Earth-like extrasolar planets, the most energetic processes in the universe, and the evolution of galaxies. The Astro2020 report also recommends critical near-term actions to support the foundations of the profession as well as the technologies and tools needed to carry out the science. ER -