An Assessment of Balance in NASA's Science Programs (2006) / Chapter Skim
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2 Health of the Discipline Programs
2 Health of the Discipline Programs
Pages 11-28
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From page 11... ...
The AANM report recommended balancing new initiatives with the ongoing program, maintaining the diversity of NASA missions, including the Explorer program, integrating theory challenges into missions, and coordinating programs with other federal agencies and international partners. Recommended major missions were the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, formerly the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST)
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From page 12... ...
More recently, an NRC "midcourse review" of progress in realizing the decadal survey goals concluded that despite the steady stream of discovery since publication of the AANM report, the science program outlined in AANM and Q2C remained valid and no new major, interdecade survey was needed.5 It also concluded that it was imperative to maintain the breadth and balance of the program and that if an expensive Hubble Space Telescope re-servicing mission threatened the program, the community should be involved in assessing the relative value of the choices. Prospects for Progress Toward Goals In the FY 2006 NASA operating plan and FY 2007 budget, NASA has proposed major changes to the astrophysics component of the SMD program in FY 2006 and beyond.
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From page 13... ...
The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) was also recommended in the 1991 decadal survey, and the performance that is necessary to achieve its science goals was set in a 2002 NRC letter report.9 It was on schedule for attaining these goals prior to the 2007 budget for a cost of $1.1 billion.
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From page 14... ...
; ESA, European Space Agency; Q2C, Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos: Eleven Science Questions for the New Century (2003)
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In 2003, the National Research Council published the first decadal survey for solar and space physics, The Sun to the Earthand Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics.15 The survey report recommended a research program for NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) that would also address the operational needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
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From page 16... ...
Thus, the FY 2006 budget continued to hold heliophysics at lower levels compared to the budgets that had been described by NASA to the solar and space physics decadal survey committee in 2002-2003. Compared to the 2004 expectations, there now are several notable elements missing from the program proposed for 2007 and beyond (see Table 2.2)
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From page 17... ...
; NFSS, New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy (2003) ; and SEB, The Sun to the Earthand Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics (2003)
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From page 18... ...
· Plans to initiate the development of the Europa Geophysical Explorer -- the SSE decadal survey report's only flagship mission for the decade 2003-2013 -- are indefinitely deferred. Failure to initiate a Europa mission, or any other flagship mission, will create gaps in the scientific, engineering, and management workforces that will hinder NASA's ability to develop large missions in the future even if the budgetary environment improves.
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From page 19... ...
NFSS <2012 <2012 Discovery 11 NFSSb,e 2012 2012 Europa Geophysical Orbiter NFSS >2012 Deferred New Frontiers 3 NFSS 2013 Deferred Mars Upper Atmosphere Orbiter NFSSf 2013 Deferred Mars Long Lived Lander Network NFSS 2020 Deferred Mars Sample Return NFSS >2020 Deferred aNFSS, New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy (2003)
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From page 20... ...
A generation of undergraduate and graduate students has been inspired by the intellectual challenges and the Vision to undertake courses and research projects in broad areas of space science. The United States has 18The NASA document, The Vision for Space Exploration, cited a number of actions that were to be taken to implement the Vision, including the following scientific activities with an emphasis on searches for life: · Conduct robotic exploration of Mars to search for evidence of life, to understand the history of the solar system, and to prepare for future human exploration; · Conduct robotic exploration across the solar system for scientific purposes and to support human exploration.
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From page 21... ...
, the National Research Council has begun a decadal survey of Earth science and applications from space that is due to be completed in late 2006. The guiding principle for the study, which was developed in consultation with members of the Earth science community, is to set an agenda for Earth science and applications from space, including everything from short-term needs for information, such as environmental warnings for protection of life and property, to longer-term scientific research that is essential for understanding our planet and is the lifeblood of future societal applications.
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From page 22... ...
The interim report endorsed the Hydros mission; subsequently, but before the FY 2007 budget was released, Hydros was not confirmed for development. Nor was the Deep Space Climate Observatory, which was not addressed by the interim report but had been supported by an earlier NRC panel.22 The interim report stated that the Global Precipitation Mission should proceed immediately and without further delay.
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From page 23... ...
Although the proposed R&A cuts across NASA are approximately 15 percent, the cuts for FY 2007 appear to be closer to 20 percent in key elements of the Earth sciences. Such reductions will impair the ability of the research community to make substantial scientific progress, reduce the capacity to train new scientists to succeed those who retire, and forestall the ability to respond to new challenges as national needs change.
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From page 24... ...
initiative,25 which is a multinational effort dedicated to developing and instituting a Global Earth Observation System of Systems, but that role is threatened as well. MICROGRAVITY LIFE AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES Goals There has not been a formal decadal survey in the space life sciences, although several past reports from the NRC have addressed scientific priorities for space biology and medicine.26 The 1998 report recommended two top priorities for the program: 1.
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From page 25... ...
While the microgravity physical science community has not conducted a decadal survey that recommended a program strategy and priorities in the fashion of the space science communities, the studies noted above provide the same kind of broad scientific assessment of appropriate research directions. A 2005 NRC review of NASA plans for research on the ISS in light of the new Vision focused on research areas that are critical to the human exploration mission and for which the ISS was uniquely suited.29 To this end, several areas of ISS research were identified: · Effects of radiation on biological systems, · Loss of bone and muscle mass during spaceflight, · Psychosocial and behavioral risks of long-term space missions, · Individual variability in mitigating a medical and/or biological risk, · Fire safety aboard spacecraft, and · Multiphase flow and heat transfer issues in space technology operations.
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From page 26... ...
At the present time, the remaining funds for microgravity research on the ISS appear to be in a state of flux. Congress has directed that NASA use 15 percent of its ISS research budget for "ground-based, free-flyer, and ISS life and microgravity science research that is not directly related to supporting the human exploration program," but how funding will be determined and allocated is uncertain.
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From page 27... ...
An entire generation of space biologists will be lost, thus profoundly impacting the human space exploration program. In terms of space-based research, the committee generally concurs with the findings and recommendations of the recent NRC review of plans for research on the ISS,31 including the following areas where there are particular needs: · Involvement of a broad base of experts and a rigorous and transparent prioritization process to develop and maintain a set of research experiments to be conducted aboard the ISS that would enable the full suite of exploration missions; 31National Research Council, Review of NASA Plans for the International Space Station, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2006.
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From page 28... ...
to sequence additional needed experiments and to address in a timely fashion those critical issues that could be important for the design of architectures for future missions; · Research or testing necessary to ensure fire safety at the design level and to mitigate the risks associated with fire safety for exploration missions; and · Studies relevant to multiphase flow and heat transfer systems operating in microgravity environments, e.g., the motion of films and fluid particles at interfaces. The one area where the ISS is absolutely critical is in providing a laboratory where the effects of fractional gravity can be studied in animals, and eventually in humans.
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