Skip to main content

A Performance Assessment of NASA's Astrophysics Program (2007) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:

2 Summary of AANM Survey and Q2C Report Recommendations
Pages 7-11

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 7...
... The survey process overlapped with a period of remarkably rapid advances in the field. Planets orbiting stars other than the Sun were being discovered; observations revealed density variations in the very early universe, a few hundred thousand years after the big bang, and clearly identified them as the seeds of galaxy formation; new objects were discovered in the outer part of the solar system, beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto; extremely distant galaxies were found near the edge of the observable universe; massive black holes were discovered in the centers of many galaxies; and, near the end of the 1990s, the existence of a new form of energy that pervades the entire universe and has repulsive gravity -- called dark energy -- was inferred from the discovery that the expansion of the universe is speeding up, not slowing down.
Read the entire page →
From page 8...
... NASA's estimated cost for Con-X was $800 million. In addition, the AANM survey strongly recommended NASA funding for the technology development required to develop the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF)
Read the entire page →
From page 9...
... , which was to be attached to the International Space Station; and a facility known as Advanced Radio Interferometry between Space and Earth (ARISE) , which would extend ground-based radio interferometry so as to provide a 10-fold increase in resolution for the study of regions near supermassive black holes and active galactic nuclei.
Read the entire page →
From page 10...
... Although it was unusual that two NRC reports touching on scientific opportunities in astronomy and astrophysics were issued in little more than 2 years, the two studies appear to have meshed very constructively3 and have helped build cooperative relationships between NASA, NSF, and DOE in supporting research in an important and rapidly moving field. The Q2C report identified 11 compelling science questions at the intersection of astronomy and physics: • What is dark matter?
Read the entire page →
From page 11...
... The Q2C report's other recommendations did not overlap with those of the AANM decadal survey, and at least some did involve new projects for NASA, including a wide-field space telescope to probe dark energy (now called the Joint Dark Energy Mission, or JDEM) and a mission dedicated to searching for the polarization signature of inflation in the cosmic microwave background.
Read the entire page →

Key Terms

  • galactic nuclei
  • active galactic
  • dark energy
  • aanm survey
  • supermassive black

  • black holes
  • hubble space
  • dark matter
  • cosmic microwave
  • microwave background

  • survey telescope
  • probe dark
  • missions recommended
  • black hole
  • decadal survey

  • joint dark
  • aanm decadal
  • helped build
  • recommended nasa
  • particle physics

  • astrophysics program
  • cooperative relationships
  • distant galaxies
  • polarization signature
  • increased understanding

  • recommended measuring
  • additional support
  • mission dedicated
  • build cooperative
  • synoptic survey


    • This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
    More information on Chapter Skim is available.