Space Studies Board Annual Report 2011 (2012) / Chapter Skim
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5 Summaries of Major Reports
5 Summaries of Major Reports
Pages 37-70
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From page 37... ...
Two reports were released in 2010 but published in 2011 -- Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Collaboration on Space and Earth Science Missions and Panel Reports -- New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Their summaries were reprinted in Space Studies Board Annual Report -- 2010.
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From page 38... ...
These observations led to improved calculations of global ocean primary production, as well as better understanding of the processes affecting how biomass and productivity change within the ocean basins at daily to interannual time scales. THE OCEAN COLOR TIME-SERIES IS AT RISK Currently, the continuous ocean color data record collected by satellites since the launch of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS, in 1997)
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From page 39... ...
Note that satellite requirements for research leading to the generation of novel products would vary depending on the question addressed and are difficult to generalize. THE REQUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN HIGH-QUALITY GLOBAL OCEAN COLOR DATA Satellite ocean color sensors measure radiance at different wavelengths that originate from sunlight and are backscattered from the ocean and from the atmosphere.
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From page 40... ...
Identify minimum requirements for a sustained, long-term global ocean color program within the United States for the maintenance and improvement of associated ocean biological, ecological, and biogeochemical records, which ensures continuity and overlap among sensors, including plans for sustained rigorous on-orbit sensor inter-calibration and data validation; algo rithm development and evaluation; data processing, re-processing, distribution, and archiving; as well as recommended funding levels for research and operational use of the data. The review will also evaluate the minimum observational research requirements in the context of relevant missions outlined in previous NRC reports, such as the NRC "Decadal Survey" of Earth Science and Applications from Space.
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From page 41... ...
Meeting these requirements would contribute to sustaining the climate-quality global ocean color record for the open ocean. However, further enhancements to sensors and missions, such as higher spectral and spatial resolution, will be required to meet the research and operational needs for imaging coastal waters and for obtaining information about the vertical distribution of biomass or particle load.
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From page 42... ...
Future sensors are shown having either a five- or seven-year lifetime, according to their individual specifications. CZCS: Coastal Zone Color Scanner; OCTS: Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner; SeaWiFS: Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor; OCM/OCM-2: Ocean Colour Monitor; MODIS-Terra/MODIS-Aqua: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on Terra/Aqua, respectively; MERIS: Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer; GLI: Global Imager; VIIRS: Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite; OLCI: Ocean Land Colour Instrument onboard Sentinel-3; PACE: Pre-Aerosol-Clouds-Ecosystem; GCOM-C: Global Change Observation Mission for Climate Research; JPSS: Joint Polar Satellite System.
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From page 43... ...
In addition, if MERIS ceases operation before Sentinel-3A is launched in 2013, VIIRS/NPP would be the only global ocean color sensor in polar orbit.
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From page 44... ...
For these reasons, the committee concludes the following: Conclusion: NOAA would greatly benefit from initiating and pursuing discussions with NASA for an ocean color partnership that would build on lessons learned from SeaWiFS and MODIS, in particular. 8 Recommendation: To move toward a partnership, NASA and NOAA should form a working group to determine the most effective way to satisfy the requirements of each agency for ocean color products from VIIRS and to consider how to produce, archive, and distribute products of shared interest, such as climate data records, that are based on data from all ocean color missions.
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From page 45... ...
CONCLUSION The diverse applications of, and future enhancements to, ocean color observations will require a mix of ocean color satellites in polar and geostationary orbit with advanced capabilities. Although the three missions described in NASA's Decadal Survey (Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem/Pre-Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem, Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events [GEOCAPE]
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From page 46... ...
Further, the scientific accomplishments required to meet this goal will bring a deeper understanding of the performance of people, ani mals, plants, microbes, materials, and engineered systems not only in the space environment but also on Earth, providing terrestrial benefits by advancing fundamental knowledge in these areas. During its more than 50-year history, NASA's success in human space exploration has depended on the agency's ability to effectively address a wide range of biomedical, engineering, physical science, and related obstacles -- an achievement made possible by NASA's strong and productive commitments to life and physical sciences research for human space exploration, and by its use of human space exploration infrastructures for scientific discovery.
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From page 47... ...
In keeping with its charge, the committee developed recommendations for research fitting in either one or both of these two broad categories: 1. Research that enables space exploration: scientific research in the life and physical sciences that is needed to develop advanced exploration technologies and processes, particularly those that are profoundly affected by operation in a space environment.
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From page 48... ...
• A successful life and physical sciences program will depend on research being an integral component of spaceflight operations and on astronauts' participation in these endeavors being viewed as a component of each mission. • The collection and analysis of a broad array of physiological and psychological data from astronauts before, during, and after a mission are necessary for advancing knowledge of the effects of the space environment on human health and for improving the safety of human space exploration.
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From page 49... ...
Building a program in life and physical sciences would ben efit from ensuring that an adequate number of flight- and ground-based investigators are participating in research that will enable future space exploration. The committee concluded that: • Educational programs and training opportunities effectively expand the pool of graduate students, scientists, and engineers who will be prepared to improve the translational application of fundamental and applied life and physical sciences research to space exploration needs.
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From page 50... ...
These two interconnected concepts -- that science is enabled by access to space and that science enables future exploration missions -- testify to the powerful complementarity of science and the human spaceflight endeavor. For example, the research recommended in this report addresses unanswered questions related to the health and welfare of humans undertaking extended space missions, to tech nologies needed to support such missions, and to logistical issues with potential impacts on the health of space travelers, such as ensuring adequate nutrition, protection against exposure to radiation, suitable thermoregulation, appropriate immune function, and attention to stress and behavioral factors.
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From page 51... ...
The highest-priority research, focusing on both basic mechanisms and development of countermeasures, includes: • Studies of bone preservation and bone-loss reversibility factors and countermeasures, including pharma ceutical therapies; • In-flight animal studies of bone loss and pharmaceutical countermeasures; • Mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle protein balance and turnover; • Prototype exercise countermeasures for single and multiple systems; • Patterns of muscle retrainment following spaceflight; • Changes in vascular/interstitial pressures during long-duration space missions; • Effects of prolonged reduced gravity on organism performance, capacity mechanisms, and orthostatic intolerance; • Screening strategies for subclinical coronary heart disease; • Aerosol deposition in the lungs of humans and animals in reduced gravity; • T cell activation and mechanisms of immune system changes during spaceflight; • Animal studies incorporating immunization challenges in space; and • Studies of multigenerational functional and structural changes in rodents in space. Crosscutting Issues for Humans in the Space Environment Translating knowledge from laboratory discoveries to spaceflight conditions is a two-fold task involving horizontal integration (multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary)
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From page 52... ...
Applied physical sciences research topics of particular interest are as follows: • Reduced-gravity multiphase flows, cryogenics, and heat transfer database development and modeling; • Interfacial flows and phenomena in exploration systems; • Dynamic granular material behavior and subsurface geotechnics; • Strategies and methods for dust mitigation; • Complex fluid physics in a reduced-gravity environment; • Fire safety research to improve screening of materials in terms of flammability and fire suppression; • Combustion processes and modeling; • Materials synthesis and processing to control microstructures and properties; • Advanced materials design and development for exploration; and • Research on processes for in situ resource utilization. Translation to Space Exploration Systems The translation of research to space exploration systems includes identification of the technologies that enable exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere, as well as the research in life and physical sciences that is needed to develop these enabling technologies, processes, and capabilities.
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From page 53... ...
• The extent to which the results of the research will reduce uncertainty about both the benefits and the risks of space exploration (Positive Impact on Exploration Efforts, Improved Access to Data or to Samples, Risk Reduction) • The extent to which the results of the research will reduce the costs of space exploration (Potential to Enhance Mission Options or to Reduce Mission Costs)
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From page 54... ...
This report is thus much more than a catalog of research recommendations; it specifies the scientific resources and tools to help in defining and developing with greater confidence the future of U.S. space exploration and scientific discovery.
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From page 55... ...
The panel also investigated what impact such participation might have on the prospects for the timely realization of the WFIRST mission and other activities recommended by NWNH in view of the projected budgetary situation.4 The Panel on Implementing Recommendations from the New Worlds, New Horizons Decadal Survey convened its workshop on November 7, 2010, and heard presentations from NASA, ESA, OSTP, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and members of the domestic and foreign astronomy and astrophysics communities. Workshop presentations identified several tradeoffs among options: funding goals less likely versus more likely to be achieved in a time of restricted budgets; narrower versus broader scientific goals; and U.S.-only versus U.S.-ESA collaboration.
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From page 56... ...
The NWNH recommendations remain scientifically compelling, and this panel believes that the decadal survey process remains the most effective way to provide community consensus to the federal government to assist in its priority setting for U.S. astronomy and astrophysics.
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From page 57... ...
decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space, passionately held that the climate science community has failed to communicate successfully the seriousness of the climate change problem to the public. Some of the communicators,2 however, disagreed.
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From page 58... ...
He uses the number of times an electronic newspaper story is shared on Facebook as a measure of its popular appeal and said that stories about space exploration do not get the same number of Facebook shares as science stories: "Science trumps [human] exploration by orders of magnitude." Using his metric of Facebook shares, Kaufman observed that looking at the websites of the Washington Post and the New York Times it is easy to tell that the public is fascinated by stories about space science, especially astrobiology -- the search for life elsewhere -- as well as supermassive black holes and "gas bubbles in the middle of the Milky Way." Overall he is convinced that the public is interested in stories that respond to a sense "of potential transcendence, of curiosity answered, of wonder peaked." Conversely, Dietram Scheufele, professor and chair of science communication at the University of WisconsinMadison, said that he does not believe the public agrees that there is an intrinsic value to science, but rather that its interest is driven by global competitiveness.
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From page 59... ...
She also is not convinced that better communications would result in increased public support, stating, "Public information, public education, public interest, public engagement, public understanding, and public support are all different social processes and phenomena, and one does not necessarily lead to another." Public participation is also different, she continued, and government agencies "tend to be resistant to true public participation in planning and policy making," but that may be the only path to "enduring public involvement." Billings believes that the space community "continually underestimates its audiences" and that it should think "more broadly and deeply about the values, functions, and meanings of space exploration and worry less about marketing the concrete benefits." She believes that the key is "public participation in exploration planning and policy making," involving "community consultations, citizen advisory boards, and policy dialogues." It would be "complicated and time-consuming" and require "power sharing," but it is a democratic approach and in keeping with President Obama's promise of "transparency, openness and participation in government."
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From page 60... ...
Alan Dressler, astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution and an SSB member, said that social media was worrisome because of all the "kook mail" he gets. Moore agreed, saying that the climate science community was not embracing it because of the "hate tweets" they have been getting since Climategate.
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From page 61... ...
O'Brien initially said that the media does a poor job of covering incremental stories, but amended that later in the workshop by observing that with the new social media, that may change. Storytelling, narratives, frames, and "people-izing" -- making stories more compelling by incorporating the personal stories and enthusiasm of the scientists involved -- were all techniques communicators advised would make science communication more effective.
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From page 62... ...
Bonnet, executive director of the International Space Science Institute in Switzerland, used the ISS as an analogy to Earth in order to get across points such as population limits and the need for certain systems -- like a thermal protection system (which for Earth is its atmosphere) -- to function correctly for the "crew" to survive.
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From page 63... ...
It is that second enlightenment, created by a partnership between science and communication, that will be critically needed to cope with stark problems of climate change and sustainability, Kennel believes. He feels that in the climate change area, the science community's "honest attempts to communicate" failed.
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From page 64... ...
It will provide fundamental new scientific knowledge, engage a broad segment of the planetary science community, and have wide appeal for the general public whose support enables the program. A major accomplishment of the program recommended by the Committee on the Planetary Science Decadal Survey will be taking the first critical steps toward returning carefully selected samples from the surface of Mars.
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From page 65... ...
And continuation of the highly successful Discovery program, which involves regular competitive selections, will provide a steady stream of scientific discoveries from small missions that draw on the full creativity of the science community. Space exploration has become a worldwide venture, and international collaboration has the potential to enrich the program in ways that will benefit all participants.
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From page 66... ...
, which will begin a three-mission NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return campaign extending into the decade beyond 2022. At an estimated cost of $3.5 billion as currently designed, however, MAX-C would take up a dispro portionate share of NASA's planetary budget.
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From page 67... ...
Mission Recommendation Science Objectives Key Challenges Decision Rules Chapter Comet Surface Sample See Table ES.1 See Table ES.1 Remove if selected 4 Return for NF-4 Io Observer Determine internal structure of Io • Radiation None 8 and mechanisms contributing to • System power Io's volcanism Lunar Geophysical Enhance knowledge of the lunar • Propulsion None 5 Network interior • Mass • Reliability • Mission operations Same as 2003 decadal surveya Lunar South Pole-Aitken Not evaluated by decadal survey Remove if selected 5 Basin Sample Return for NF-4 Saturn Probe See Table ES.1 See Table ES.1 Remove if selected 7 for NF-4 Trojan Tour and See Table ES.1 See Table ES.1 Remove if selected 4 Rendezvous for NF-4 Same as 2003 decadal surveya (as Venus In Situ Explorer Not evaluated by decadal survey Remove if selected 5 amendedb) for NF-4 NOTE: On May 25, 2011, following the completion of this report, NASA selected the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return spacecraft as the third New Frontiers mission.
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From page 68... ...
: • Discovery program funded at the current level adjusted for inflation, • Mars Trace Gas Orbiter conducted jointly with ESA, TABLE ES.3 Large-Class Missions (in priority order) Mission Recommendation Science Objectives Key Challenges Decision Rules Chapter Mars Astrobiology • Perform in situ science on • Keeping within Mars Science Should be flown 6 Explorer-Cacher descope Mars samples to look for Laboratory design constraints only if it can be evidence of ancient life or • Sample handling, encapsulation, conducted for a cost prebiotic chemistry and containerization to NASA of no more • Collect, document, and • Increased rover traverse speed than approximately package samples for future over Mars Science Laboratory $2.5 billion (FY2015 collection and return to Earth and Mars Exploration Rover dollars)
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From page 69... ...
This program should be consistently funded at approximately 6 to 8 percent of the total NASA Planetary Science Division budget. NSF-FUNDED RESEARCH AND INFRASTRUCTURE The National Science Foundation supports nearly all areas of planetary science except space missions, which it supports indirectly through laboratory research and archived data.
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From page 70... ...
. The committee encourages the timely completion of LSST and stresses the importance of its contributions to planetary science once telescope operations begin.
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